Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Trump Proclaims Jewish Heritage Month

President Donald Trump declared May 2017 Jewish American Heritage Month in a proclamation.

“During Jewish American Heritage Month, we celebrate our nation’s strong American Jewish heritage, rooted in the ancient faith and traditions of the Jewish people. The small band of Dutch Jews who first immigrated in 1654, seeking refuge and religious liberty, brought with them their families, their religion, and their cherished customs, which they have passed on from generation to generation,” read the proclamation issued by the White House late on Friday.

“The moral and ethical code of the Jewish people is inspired by their spiritual vocation of ‘tikkun olam’ ‑‑ the charge to repair the world. Through that vocation, the Jewish people have left an indelible mark on American culture,” the proclamation continued.

The statement used the Yiddish term “Di Goldene Medina,” or the Golden Country, to describe how Jews looked to the United States to escape religious persecution and seek economic opportunity.

The statement specifically mentioned Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, and her husband Jared Kushner, who both serve as advisors in the White House. Ivanka Trump converted to Judaism before marrying Kushner in 2008.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.