There\u2019s definitely a good mood deficit all around: 77% of Americans say the founders would be \u201cdisappointed\u201d in the state of the union, crossing party lines.<\/p>\n
Still, Jewish organizations across the country are marking the semiquincentennial and long history of Jewish contributions to American democracy with a variety of events, including cultural programming and civic education rooted in Jewish texts.<\/p>\n
![\"American](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/433149.jpeg\"\/)
American Jews [Illustrative] (credit: REUTERS)The Jewish Museum\u00a0<\/p>\n
October 24, 2025 \u2013 August 9, 2026<\/p>\n
Currently on view at New York City<\/a>\u2019s recently renovated Jewish Museum is the \u201cCirca 1776\u201d exhibit, which explores themes of Jewish colonial and postcolonial life in America. This exhibit includes portraits, artifacts, and documents together with the \u201cIdentity, Culture, and Community\u201d exhibit currently on view. Included in the latter exhibit are letters from 1790 between the new American President George Washington and Moses Seixas, the president of what is now the Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island – the oldest synagogue in the United States.<\/p>\n Seixas congratulated Washington on his new presidency, and expressed hope and optimism at the prospect of religious freedom in their new country.<\/p>\n \u201cMay the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants -,\u201d Washington wrote in response, adding a quotation from scripture, \u201cwhile everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n The exchange has become the ur-text of American Jewish belonging, surfacing in virtually every instance Jewish Americans have faced challenges about their place in the national fabric.<\/p>\n On June 29, the museum will hold a ticketed lecture exploring the lives of Jews in Colonial America, co-hosted with the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, Congregation Shearith Israel.<\/p>\n Entry to the museum is free on Saturdays.<\/p>\n Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History<\/p>\n April 23, 2026 \u2013 April 2027<\/p>\n Philadelphia\u2019s Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, a Smithsonian affiliate currently under consideration to become a full member of the Smithsonian Institution, has a slate of exhibits focused on Jewish involvement during the American Revolutionary period.<\/p>\n Aside from the core exhibition, which spans 1654 to 1945 and focuses on themes of freedom and religion, there is also the \u201cOnly in America\u201d Gallery – a hall of fame of American Jews such as singer-songwriter Irving Berlin, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, actor and singer Barbra Streisand, and Henrietta Szold, the founder of the Zionist Hadassah movement.<\/p>\n \u201cThe First Salute\u201d exhibit explores a little-known story of a group of Sephardic merchants on the Caribbean island of Sint Eustatius, who helped supply the Continental Army with weapons. On November 16, 1776, an American ship entering the harbor and flying a precursor to the American flag was thought to be the first American cannon salute to be recognized by a foreign nation. The ship sent out a 13-gun salute, and was returned with one by the Dutch governor. \u201cThe First Salute\u201d will be on view until April 2027.<\/p>\n The core exhibition is viewable online, as is the \u201cOnly in America\u201d Gallery.<\/p>\n Repair the World<\/p>\n June 10, 2026 \u2013 July 10, 2026<\/p>\n The Jewish service movement that connects young adults to community service events around the United States has launched Serve 250, a themed campaign offering service and learning opportunities throughout the month. Repair the World is also partnering with A More Perfect Union to provide democracy and civic engagement resources.<\/p>\n