Rabbi Filler to Host Course on America’s Founding and its Torah Origins

The local JLI Chapter has announced a four-session course, Sinai and Civics: How Jewish Values Helped Shape America’s Founding Ideals, beginning July 14^th at here in Prescott. The program is offered through the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI).

On July 4, 2026, the United States turned 250. Most Americans will celebrate. Fewer will know that when Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams were appointed to design the first national seal in 1776, they proposed an image of Moses parting the Red Sea, with the motto: “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to G-d.” They wanted the face of the new nation to be a scene from Exodus.

Sinai and Civics follows that thread. The four-session course traces the influence of the Hebrew Bible on America’s founding (from the Mayflower Compact to the Declaration of Independence to the structure of the Constitution) and asks what that history means for Jewish Americans today.

“Most people have no idea how directly the founders drew on the Jewish tradition,” says Rabbi Filler. “They were reading it, quoting it, and using it as a model for the kind of country they wanted to build. In this course, we’ll look at the primary sources together, and it’s a lot more specific than people expect.”

“The great American historian Perry Miller once said that the Bible was ‘the air people breathed’ in early American culture,” says Professor Jonathan D. Sarna, PhD, of Brandeis University. “Sinai and Civics underscores the profound interrelationship between Judaism and America’s founding ideals.”

Rabbi Filler says it’s an eye-opening realization, especially for American Jews at a time of rising uncertainty. “Once you understand how the founders thought,” he says, “you stop asking whether you belong here. The answer becomes obvious.”

The course is open to participants of all backgrounds. No prior knowledge of Jewish studies is required.

Sinai and Civics is CLE-accredited for attorneys in most U.S. states.

Course Details:

Sinai and Civics: How Jewish Values Helped Shape America’s Founding Ideas

4 Sessions: Tuesday Evenings 6-7pm beginning July 14^th or Wednesday mornings 11am-12noon beginning July 15^th

Location available upon registration.

Fee: $149. Scholarships available

Registration: Myjli.com/learn/Prescott or by Phone 928-362-8924 or email Rabbi@jewishPrescott.org

_____

About JLI

The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) is the adult education arm of Chabad-Lubavitch. JLI’s classes and programs are offered at over 1,600 locations in more than 900 communities worldwide.