Elissa Slotkin sworn into Senate on Reform movement women’s Torah commentary
Slotkin, who eked out a victory in November, is one of 34 Jewish members of Congress this session
Vice President Kamala Harris (R) swearing-in Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) on Jan. 3. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images
(JTA) — When it came time to choose the text on which she would be sworn into the U.S. Senate, Elissa Slotkin turned to a relatively recent book that reflects her own identity as a Jewish woman.
Slotkin, a former congresswoman who narrowly won her election in November, took the oath of office Friday on a copy of “The Torah: A Women’s Commentary,” published in 2008 by the Reform movement of Judaism.
Women of Reform Judaism, the movement’s women’s organization, celebrated Slotkin’s choice on social media, noting that the book was the first full Torah commentary to feature only contributions from women.
“We are so excited that this book is being used for such a joyous and momentous occasion,” the group said on Facebook, where it shared a picture of Slotkin holding up the text. “There have only ever been 60 women to serve in the United States Senate, so being part of this moment in women’s history and American history is an honor.”
Slotkin has longstanding ties to the Reform movement. When a man was charged with “ethnic intimidation” after harassing families outside a Reform synagogue in suburban Detroit in 2022, she shared that her grandparents had helped construct the building and that she had celebrated her bat mitzvah inside.
Slotkin is one of 34 Jewish members of the 119th Congress. The other newly elected Jewish senator, Democrat Adam Schiff, was sworn in temporarily last month on a 1490 edition of Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah, one of the most revered and prominent codes of Jewish law, before being sworn in for a full six-year term on Friday.
Three Jews were newly elected to the House of Representatives: Democrat Laura Friedman of California, who is filling the seat Schiff vacated; Republican Craig Goldman of Texas; and Democrat Eugene Vindman of Virginia.
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein was sworn in last week on an 1891 edition of the Hebrew Bible.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
