(26s5) George Washington, Jews and Religious Freedom

June 10th, 2026, 7:00 pm - 8:15 pm

In her 2014 dissenting opinion on the U.S. Supreme Court’s “Greece vs. Galloway” decision, Elena Kagan – Associate Justice – referred to one of the best-known letters in all American Jewish history: President Washington’s letter to the Jews of Congregation Yeshuat Israel (a.k.a. “Touro Synagogue”), Newport, Rhode Island. According to Justice Kagan, this letter – written in 1790 – clarified Washington’s understanding of the Constitution’s “promise” that every citizen in America is guaranteed the right to practice his or her faith without government interference. Washington’s perspective constitutes a window into the intentions of the nation’s founders vis a vis religious freedom.

This class will examine the content of this famous letter closely. We will explore the historical circumstances that prompted “the father of our nation” to compose the letter, and we will consider the first president’s perspective on the tension between the competing ideals of “minority rights” and “majority rules” in the new nation. This interactive study session constitutes a rare opportunity to learn more about the history of this letter (written more than 236 years ago) and learn why it remains remarkably salient to the well-being of the American republic where debate still rages about the link between national identity and religion.

Gary Phillip Zola is the Executive Director Emeritus of The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives (AJA) and the Edward M. Ackerman Family Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the American Jewish Experience & Reform Jewish History at Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in Cincinnati. He served the College-Institute, where he received both his rabbinic ordination (1982) and his Ph.D. in American Jewish History (1991), for more than four decades (from July 1982 to December 2024). Dr. Zola became the AJA’s second director in 1998, succeeding his teacher and mentor, Professor Jacob Rader Marcus (1896-1995), the prodigious scholar who first defined the field of American Jewish history. Marcus founded the AJA in 1947 and served as its director until his death in 1995.

Under Professor Zola’s leadership, the AJA became the world’s largest free-standing research center dedicated solely to the study of the American Jewish experience. The AJA expanded its collection and, importantly, its physical home during Dr. Zola’s tenure. He spearheaded the development of the center’s dynamic array of programs. He also championed the effort to build the AJA’s current home, which consists of a world-class complex of three interconnected structures, including the Edwin A. Malloy Education Building and the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati’s International Learning Center.

Zola is widely recognized by colleagues as an innovator in his field, who has enlarged the public’s access to the AJA’s holdings, launched important digitization initiatives, expanded The Marcus Center’s programmatic activities, and encouraged the institution to make use of 21st century technologies. Professor Zola is also known as a historian of American Jewry who specializes in 19th-century American Judaism and the history of American Reform Judaism. Since 1998, Zola has been the editor of The Marcus Center’s award-winning biannual publication, The American Jewish Archives Journal. His most recent volume is entitled An Equal Share of Freedom: American Jews, Zionism, and World War I (co-edited with Mark A. Raider and Zohar Segev), published by the University of Cincinnati Press, 2024. His other book-length volumes include: New Perspectives in American Jewish History (co-edited with Mark A. Raider and published by Brandeis University Press: 2021); We Called Him Rabbi Abraham: Lincoln and American Jewry (Southern Illinois University Press, 2014); American Jewish History: A Primary Source Reader (co-edited by Marc Dollinger and published by Brandeis University Press, 2014); The Americanization of the Jewish Prayer Book and The Liturgical Development of Congregation Ahavath Chesed, New York City (New York: Central Synagogue, 2008); A Place of Our Own: The Rise of Reform Jewish Camping in America (co-edited with Michael M. Lorge and published by the University of Alabama Press, 2006); The Dynamics of American Jewish History: Jacob Rader Marcus’s Essays on American Jewry (Brandeis University Press, 2004); Women Rabbis: Exploration and Celebration (HUC-JIR Alumni Press, 1996) and Isaac Harby of Charleston (the University of Alabama Press, 1994), a major biographical study on the life of one of the founders of the first organized effort to reform Judaism in the United States. Professor Zola has also published dozens of scholarly articles and book reviews.

On May 17, 2023, President Joe Biden appointed Dr. Zola to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, which serves as the governing board of trustees of the United States Holocaust Museum and Memorial in Washington, D.C. President Barack Obama appointed Dr. Zola on three separate occasions (2011, 2014, and 2017) to serve as a member of the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, an independent agency of the Federal government. Established by Public Law in 1985, the Commission exists to foster the preservation and protection of the cemeteries, monuments, and historic buildings associated with the foreign heritage of United States citizens. Although HUC-JIR presidents have received such appointments, Professor Zola is the first regular member of the College-Institute’s faculty to serve on a standing Commission of the United States Government in the history of the school. From 2000 to 2005, Dr. Zola served as the chair of the congressionally recognized Commission for Commemorating 350 Years of American Jewish History, a consortium of leading research institutions established to promote the study of American Jewish history during the 350th anniversary of Jewish life in America (2004-2005). In 2006, Dr. Zola became the first American Jewish historian to receive appointment to the Academic Advisory Council of the congressionally recognized Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. Professor Zola has been called upon to speak about the American Jewish experience on CNN, MS Now, PBS, NPR, and C-Span’s Book TV series.

In addition to these national activities, Dr. Zola has been recognized for his commitment to the betterment of community life in Cincinnati, Ohio. In April of 2023, the Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio named Dr. Zola one of its “Lion Honorees” – distinguished community leaders who have demonstrated a lifelong commitment to serving the community. In 2018, Thomas More University conferred a Doctor of Humane Letters degree, honoris causa, on Dr. Zola for his “dedication to the principles that are the foundation of our nation.” Dr. Zola was named one of Evanston Township High School’s “Distinguished Alumni” in November of 2025. Lighthouse Youth Services of Cincinnati gave its “Beacon of Light Humanitarian Award” to Dr. Zola in 2016. In 2012, he received the “Distinguished Service Award” from BRIDGES for a Just Community (formerly the National Conference of Christians and Jews). The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center gave him its “Martin Luther King, Jr. Legacy Award” that same year. In recognition of his service to the citizens in the Greater Cincinnati metropolitan area, the Cincinnati Human Relations Commission gave Dr. Zola the “Bishop Herbert Thompson, Jr. Outstanding Humanitarian Award” in 2009. In 2004, the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati conferred its “Distinguished Leadership Award” on Zola for his service to Cincinnati’s Jewish community.

Dr. Zola has recently agreed to serve as the Founding President of The College for Contemporary Judaism (CCJ), a new rabbinical school being established in Cincinnati, Ohio. This new institution aspires to perpetuate Cincinnati’s distinguished tradition of rabbinical learning that will benefit Jewish communities across the American heartland. Rabbi Zola and his wife, Stefi, reside in Cincinnati, Ohio. They have four grown children (Mandi, Jory, Jeremy, and Samantha) and five grandchildren (Tyler, Austin, Isaac, Lila, & Savannah).

a is the first regular member of the College-Institute’s faculty to serve on a standing Commission of the United States Government in the history of the school. From 2000 to 2005, Dr. Zola served as the chair of the congressionally recognized Commission for Commemorating 350 Years of American Jewish History, a consortium of leading research institutions established to promote the study of American Jewish history during the 350th anniversary of Jewish life in America (2004-2005). In 2006, Dr. Zola became the first American Jewish historian to receive appointment to the Academic Advisory Council of the congressionally recognized Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. Professor Zola has been called upon to speak about the American Jewish experience on CNN, MS Now, PBS, NPR, and C-Span’s Book TV series.