In celebration of America’s Semiquincentennial—the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence—it is fitting to pause and reflect on the American Jewish experience, and specifically the Orthodox Jewish experience.
Living in America, with its emphasis on freedom, democracy and individualism, was—and continues to be—both a blessing and a challenge to perpetuating Jewish values and practice.
Was the United States a providential haven for Jewish flourishing—or a subtle engine of assimilation?
Jewish Action Editor-in-Chief Nechama Carmel spoke with Rabbi Yaakov Glasser, the OU’s managing director of Community Engagement, about American individualism, rising antisemitism and the hidden cost of freedom.