{"id":26520,"date":"2026-06-25T15:54:40","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T10:24:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/as-some-praise-texas-proposed-judeo-christian-curriculum-rabbis-say-it-dismisses-judaism\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T15:54:40","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T10:24:40","slug":"as-some-praise-texas-proposed-judeo-christian-curriculum-rabbis-say-it-dismisses-judaism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/as-some-praise-texas-proposed-judeo-christian-curriculum-rabbis-say-it-dismisses-judaism\/","title":{"rendered":"As some praise Texas\u2019 proposed \u2018Judeo-Christian\u2019 curriculum, rabbis say it dismisses Judaism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p><iframe title=\"Everlit Audio Player\" src=\"https:\/\/everlit.audio\/embeds\/artl_eQjyeHDBmqP?ui_title_intro=Listen+now%3A&amp;client=wp&amp;client_version=3.2.3\" width=\"100%\" height=\"136px\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>AUSTIN, Texas (RNS) \u2014 During a Texas State Board of Education hearing on Monday (June 22), supporters of a proposal to require Texas public school students to read Bible stories argued doing so would acknowledge that the nation was founded on Judeo-Christian values.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Rabbis and Jewish leaders at the hearing, however, criticized the biblical passages chosen by the education board as heavy on Christianity and dismissive of Judaism. Grounding support of the measures in \u201cJudeo-Christian\u201d values is a \u201cfig leaf at inclusion,\u201d one said.<\/p>\n<p>The State Board of Education kicked off a week of meetings Monday by hearing from more than 400 experts, teachers and concerned citizens on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2026\/06\/22\/texas-votes-bible-history-lessons-public-schools\/\">two proposals<\/a> \u2014 one that would overhaul the state\u2019s social studies curriculum, and another that would create a<a href=\"https:\/\/tea.texas.gov\/laws-and-rules\/sboe-rules-tac\/proposed-state-board-education-rules\"> required reading list<\/a> for K-12 public schoolchildren. Both proposals include biblical references, passages and stories. A final vote is expected by Friday.<\/p>\n<p>Many of the speakers who praised the proposed reading list said it was important to teach children about Judeo-Christian heritage and values.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t lie about where we came from as Americans,\u201d witness Richard Green said. \u201cIt was the Judeo-Christian value system that produced the greatest, most powerful, the wealthiest, most free, the most benevolent nation in the history of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Larry Holland with the conservative grassroots group <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Citz4ed\/\">Citizens for Education Reform<\/a> endorsed the reading list because it was aligned with \u201ca nation founded on the principles of Judeo-Christian heritage.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>However, several rabbis and Jews rejected the use of \u201cJudeo-Christian\u201d to support the list.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4265745\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 750px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4265745\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Texas-Board-of-Education2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"562\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Texas-Board-of-Education2.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Texas-Board-of-Education2-427x320.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Texas-Board-of-Education2-807x605.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Texas-Board-of-Education2-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Texas-Board-of-Education2-1536x1151.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Texas-Board-of-Education2-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Texas-Board-of-Education2-600x450.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">Rabbi David Segal addresses the State Board of Education in the Barbara Jordan Building on Monday, June 22, 2026, in Austin, Texas. (Photo courtesy of Segal)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cOne would think that this phrase is meant to evoke friendship between the two faiths, but I do not find that here \u2014 or in the language surrounding support for this list,\u201d said Blake Ziegler, a Texas field organizer for the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.<\/p>\n<p>Cameron Samuels, executive director of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, a group that aims to incorporate young people in state policy decisions, objected to using \u201cJudeo-Christian\u201d to characterize Texas values.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot in my Jewish faith shall you mandate entire chapters of the Bible for over five-and-a-half million students in Texas and proclaim that this speaks for Jewish people,\u201d Samuels said.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<hr\/>\n<h4><span>\u2018<\/span>A fig leaf at inclusion<span>\u2019<\/span><\/h4>\n<p>The term Judeo-Christian was popularized during the Cold War \u2014 a conflict frequently characterized as a spiritual battle between those of faith and \u201cgodless\u201d enemies abroad, said Robert O. Smith, associate professor at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.<\/p>\n<p>In the United States, the term united Protestants, Catholics and Jews under a banner of shared religious origins that excluded Muslims, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Protestant, Catholic, Jew construct\u201d of the Judeo-Christian ethos is based on the \u201crejection of the atheist and the rejection of the Muslim,\u201d Smith said in an interview.<\/p>\n<p>Though Judaism is embedded in the phrase, the partnership has not been equal, Smith added. The term Judeo-Christian \u201cimplies a Christian construction of Jewish existence\u201d in which \u201cJews exist inherently to fulfill Christian purposes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChristianity, from its very beginnings, has had a very ambivalent relationship with Jews and Judaism,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThere\u2019s a desire for Jews to convert \u2014 and therefore for Judaism to disappear into Christianity \u2014 but there\u2019s also a recognition that Judaism is the foundation of Christianity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For many of the Jewish leaders who testified before the State Board of Education, the required readings signified the contradictions behind the term Judeo-Christian.<\/p>\n<p>Of the roughly dozen scriptural passages included in the proposed student reading list, many were taken from the Hebrew Bible \u2014 the shared text between Jews and Christians \u2014 but most of the excerpts are from distinctly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2026\/06\/19\/texas-religious-reading-list-sboe-bible-public-schools\/\">Christian translations<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Ziegler and Houston Rabbi David Segal criticized the reading list\u2019s inclusion of Lamentations 3, the only biblical passage taken from the Tanakh, the Jewish translation of the Hebrew Bible. The Texas curriculum requires using a translation produced in 1917 by the Jewish Publication Society, and many contemporary Jewish communities no longer use it.<\/p>\n<p>Ziegler told the education board that the translation was outdated and he was concerned that the passage\u2019s \u201cgraphic violence isn\u2019t appropriate for eighth grade.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lamentations 3 details the physical, mental and spiritual effects of God\u2019s wrath on those who stray from him.<\/p>\n<p>Ziegler also criticized placing Lamentations 3 alongside Holocaust literature, like Elie Wiesel\u2019s \u201cNight,\u201d in the curriculum.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLamentations understands the destruction of the ancient temple in Jerusalem as God\u2019s punishment for the Israelites\u2019 sins,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen it\u2019s taught alongside Holocaust literature \u2014 suggesting that was similarly a divine punishment for Jews \u2014\u00a0that is an unacceptable implication that invites antisemitism and hurts Jews across the state.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Segal agreed. \u201cOf course, (the translation) is outdated, but worse, you\u2019ve anchored it to Holocaust literature, which invites eighth graders to consider whether the Holocaust was God\u2019s punishment for the Jews,\u201d he told the board.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI assume this poor choice comes from ignorance, not intent, but either way it\u2019s unacceptable, as is the proposed list as a whole, which I ask you to reject and start over,\u201d Segal said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4265740\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 750px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4265740\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Texas-SBOE-Josh-Fixler.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Texas-SBOE-Josh-Fixler.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Texas-SBOE-Josh-Fixler-427x285.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Texas-SBOE-Josh-Fixler-807x538.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Texas-SBOE-Josh-Fixler-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Texas-SBOE-Josh-Fixler-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Texas-SBOE-Josh-Fixler-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Texas-SBOE-Josh-Fixler-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Texas-SBOE-Josh-Fixler-380x253.jpg 380w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">Rabbi Josh Fixler addresses the State Board of Education in the Barbara Jordan Building on Monday, June 22, 2026, in Austin, Texas. Fixler argued that the required reading list is full of Christian texts that are inappropriate for public school classrooms. (Photo by Aiden Gonzalez\/The Texas Tribune)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Rabbi Joshua Fixler, rabbi at Houston\u2019s Congregation Emanu El and a member of the <a href=\"https:\/\/rac.org\/\">Religious Action Center<\/a>, said the curriculum\u2019s near-exclusive use of Christian interpretations and Scriptures will result in the \u201cfurther alienation of non-Christian students.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Speaking after his testimony, Fixler said he is almost always troubled by invocations of \u201cJudeo-Christian,\u201d which to him \u201cmake actions that Christians are doing seem more inclusive by including Jews in the phrase.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt feels like a fig leaf at inclusion,\u201d Fixler said. \u201cThey\u2019re promoting a particular version of Protestant Christianity in our public schools and trying to use Jews as cover by using the term Judeo-Christian.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<hr\/>\n<h4><span>\u2018<\/span>Pride in our moral, cultural and civic traditions<span>\u2019<\/span><\/h4>\n<p>Several speakers told the education board that the proposed reading list honored the nation\u2019s Judeo-Christian heritage and values.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Susan Perez of Citizens for Education Reform said the \u201cnation was founded on Judeo-Christian values,\u201d adding that aspects of the American judicial system \u201cwere set up under Moses in the Bible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kason Huddleston, a pastor from Rockwall, said the reading list would create \u201cstrong readers \u2026 who love America and understand our Constitution and the Judeo-Christian foundations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do not need to emphasize other cultures like Islam,\u201d Patricia Franklin of Lubbock told the board of education. Focusing instead on Judeo-Christian ideas \u201cwill foster our students\u2019 understanding and pride in our moral, cultural and civic traditions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Laurie Cardoza Moore, the evangelical Christian founder of <a href=\"https:\/\/pjtn.org\/who-we-are\/\">Proclaiming Justice to the Nations<\/a>, a group that mobilizes support for Israel, emphasized Judaism\u2019s impact on Western civilization.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor more than two decades, PJTN has warned that anti-Israel propaganda and historical revisionism and ideological activism are entering classrooms,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStudents are being exposed to narratives that minimize the Jewish roots of Western civilization, distort the history of Israel, ignore the contributions of the Jewish people to America\u2019s founding,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judeochristiancaucus.com\/\">Judeo-Christian Caucus<\/a> says it unites pastors, legislators and citizens to \u201cuphold and promote our Judeo-Christian heritage.\u201d Contacted by email, Dran Reese, president of the group, said the term Judeo-Christian recognizes Christianity\u2019s heritage \u201cand affirms the timeless moral and ethical principles shared by both Jews and Christians.\u201d The group was not represented at the hearing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnited by these common values,\u201d Reese said, the caucus seeks \u201cto strengthen faith, family, freedom, and the biblical foundations that have blessed our nation and civilization.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fixler, the rabbi from Houston, has a different perspective. Though Jews were in the U.S. at its founding, he said, \u201cwe were not the Founding Fathers.\u201d Using \u201cJudeo-Christian\u201d to describe the nation\u2019s origin is \u201ca prime example\u201d of how the term rewrites the Jewish experience, he said in an interview.<\/p>\n<p>The Founding Fathers were a \u201cgroup of men representing a variety of religious beliefs\u201d who built \u201cthe world\u2019s first government that was explicitly not rooted in religion,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Fixler wore a tie depicting the Constitution when he testified before the education board \u2014 a choice he later said reflected his concern that the \u201csacred principles of the United States Constitution and our secular democracy were under threat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reading list and the social studies standards are part of a concerted effort to chip away at the wall of separation between church and state, which has been so important to people of all faiths in America for its 250-year history,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For Fixler, there is \u201ca big difference between teaching about religion and teaching religion.\u201d In his view, the list accomplishes the latter, and he would rather the vast majority of scriptural references be eliminated.<\/p>\n<p>The Jewish Federations of Texas and Shalom Austin, a Central Texas Jewish group, recommend using the 1985 Jewish Publication Society translation for passages from the Hebrew Bible, as well as additional representations of the Jewish experience beyond Holocaust literature.<\/p>\n<p>Segal is similarly open to including some scriptural passages on the reading list.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do think it should be taught\u201d to foster religious literacy, Segal said in an interview. But he said Jewish texts should not be taught \u201cthrough a Christian lens\u201d or be insensitively paired with Holocaust literature.<\/p>\n<p>Ziegler said if lessons include religious texts, \u201cthey should reflect the diversity of our society.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe First Amendment does not permit the state to anoint one religious tradition above others. Texas students deserve an education that broadens their understanding of the world\u2019s religious traditions, rather than narrowing it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><em>This story is published through a collaboration between <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/\">The Texas Tribune<\/a> and Religion News Service.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>AUSTIN, TX (RNS) \u2014 During a Texas State Board of Education hearing on Monday (June 22), supporters of a proposal to require Texas public school students to read Bible stories argued doing so would help acknowledge that the nation was founded on Judeo-Christian values. &#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\nRabbis and Jewish leaders, however, criticized the biblical passages chosen by the education board as heavy on Christianity and dismissive of Judaism. Grounding support of the measures in \u201cJudeo-Christian\u201d values is a \u201cfig leaf at inclusion,\u201d one said.&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\nThe State Board of Education kicked off a week of meetings Monday by hearing from more than 400 experts, teachers and concerned citizens on two proposals \u2014 one that would overhaul the state\u2019s social studies curriculum, and another that would create a required reading list for K-12 public school children. Both proposals include biblical references, passages and stories. A final vote is expected by Friday.<\/p>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 1 -->\n        <\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2026\/06\/25\/rabbis-reject-texas-judeo-christian-proposed-reading-list\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AUSTIN, Texas (RNS) \u2014 During a Texas State Board of Education hearing on Monday (June 22), supporters of a proposal to require Texas public school students to read Bible stories argued doing so would acknowledge that the nation was founded on Judeo-Christian values.\u00a0 Rabbis and Jewish leaders at the hearing, however, criticized the biblical passages [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}