Celebrating Independence ‘Jewish Style’
Taking a page from the Shavuot playbook — when Jews commemorate the giving of the Torah by staying up all night to study it — a group of Philadelphia Jews is planning to spend the evening of July 3 studying the country’s founding documents: “America’s Torah.”
“We’re studying the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, Jewish style,” Catherine Fischer said. Fischer is the coordinator of the Kehillah of Center City, an interdenominational consortium of Philadelphia-area congregations.
The study session, led by University of Pennsylvania historian Michael Zuckerman, will take place at Congregation Mikveh Israel, a Spanish-Portuguese synagogue located just a block from the Liberty Bell. Founded in 1740, Mikveh Israel is often referred to as the “Synagogue of the Revolution.”
The event is geared toward those interested in “doing something meaningful on Independence Day as well as celebrating,” Fischer told the Forward. It runs from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., just before the fireworks.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
-
Israel News Watch: What happens next with Israel’s judicial overhaul?
-
Israel News ‘A very, very dangerous situation’: An Israeli journalist’s key takeaways from recent protests
-
Israel News Fresh water could be in extremely short supply in Israel in just a few decades, study says
-
Israel News Jerusalem twin bombings: Deadly innovation stirs old traumas
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
- 3
Opinion Yes, the attack on Gov. Shapiro was antisemitic. Here’s what the left should learn from it
- 4
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Global antisemitism has declined since Oct. 7, Tel Aviv University says
-
Yiddish World VIDEO: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising commemoration highlights women ghetto fighters
-
Music Even the Holocaust could not silence the music of these composers
-
Fast Forward Authorities raid Michigan homes that advocates say belong to pro-Palestinian activists
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
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 comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag 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.