Heal the Nation: Updating the Rebbe’s Vision for America

In honor of the Rebbe’s birthday, a project has been launched to realize the Rebbe’s vision for non-denominational prayer in American public schools. We sat down with the organizers to find out what the Rebbe had to say about it and why now is the right time.

By Anash.org reporter

In honor of the Rebbe’s birthday, a project has been launched to realize the Rebbe’s vision for non-denominational prayer in American public schools. The new project, called ‘Heal the Nation’, aims to make this a reality. To find out more, we sat down with the organizers to find out what the Rebbe had to say about it and why now is the right time.

Anash Reporter: Hi! Let’s start at the beginning: what is a “non-denominational prayer” and why was this something the Rebbe felt strongly about?

Heal the nation: Hi! A non-denominational prayer is a prayer to the Almighty that is universal. It does not represent one particular religion, but rather it is a general prayer that can apply to anyone.

In 1950, the New York State Board of Regents, which is responsible for all school standards in New York State, wanted to integrate morality into public schools. They established a committee of Jews and non-Jews to create a moral consciousness for students in public schools.

The committee came up with a 26-word nondenominational prayer that was distributed to every school in New York State and offered to local school boards if they wanted to implement it. The prayer went as follows:

“Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence on You, and we implore Your blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country. Amen.”

AR: What happened to that prayer?

HTN: That prayer was unfortunately discontinued in 1961, just eleven years after it was instituted. At the time, five parents of public school students in New Hyde Park sued the school president, saying they were atheists and should not be forced to pray in a public school. Steven Engel, incidentally a Jewish parent, became the named plaintiff in the case Engel v. Vitale, which argued that the prayer violated the First Amendment.

The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, where it was ruled that having a state-mandated prayer was unconstitutional. By the time the verdict was announced, it was already the summer of 1962.

AR: What was the Rebbe’s position on the case and the ruling that followed?

HTN: The Rebbe addressed it three weeks later, during the farbracht of Yud Gimmel Tammuz 5722 (1962). The Rebbe spoke passionately, saying the ruling is tragic because it takes away the children’s concept of an Almighty Creator.

In a letter Written in Cheshvan of 5723 (November 1962), five months after the ruling was announced, the Rebbe wrote a list of several reasons why it is so important to reintroduce non-denominational prayer in schools across America. These include: many Yidden in public school who would have the opportunity to fulfill the mitzvah of tefillah every day, the responsibility of teaching non-Jews Sheva Mitsvos B’nei Noah, which primarily involves faith in Hashem, and the eradication of the name of Hashem from all schools is egregious chillul Hashem.

The Rebbe then strongly encouraged every observant Jew to do all they could to restore prayer and overturn the Engel v. Vitale ruling. In the words of the Rebbe: “From every aspect of Jewish law, it seems clear that every Jew, for whom the Torah is a guide, has the obligation to use all legal and constitutional means to see the majority decision of the Supreme Court. the Regent Prayer was reversed.”

The Rebbe then said that efforts should be made to get a constitutional amendment to circumvent the ruling. In 1964, the recipient of the above letter wrote to the Rebbe that there were religious goyim who tried to get a religious prayer approved by Congress. The Rebbe responded that that is exactly why he wants that frum Yiddish to participate: to ensure that a non-denominational prayer is pushed, and not a religious prayer that would conflict with Yiddish.

AR: What was the reaction of the Jewish community in America to the ruling?

HTN: Most Jewish leaders at the time believed that Jews in America should not get involved. They did not want to become involved in issues related to the separation of church and state because they feared that this would lead to negative intrusions into areas of Jewish practice.

The Rebbe, however, was not concerned about that. In a letter for a questioner, the Rebbe eloquently goes into depth and explains why concerns about distorting the distinction between church and state are irrelevant. The Rebbe also describes the profound impact that bringing Hashem to schools will have on the youth and how this will positively impact the students and protect them from further involvement in crime in the future. Everyone should read the letter in full.

In a recent interview, lawyer Nat Lewinwho represented Chabad for public menorah lighting and the seforim case and was a clerk at the Supreme Court during Engle v. Vitale, said on the subject:

“I was surprised at the time because all the Jewish organizations had argued that it was clearly unconstitutional to encourage people to recite this non-denominational prayer in New York public schools.

“Only the Lubavitcher Rebbe opposed the majority opinion of the Supreme Court and he sent a letter saying that it was better that everyone should pray to God and acknowledge their debt to the Almighty than have it denied. And I included his letter, many years later, in a brief I filed with the Supreme Court of the United States. At the time I was personally surprised and honestly I thought he probably wasn’t right…

“And years later, as I came of age, I came to realize that the Lubavitcher Rebbe was probably right. It is better that everyone acknowledges God. Just as the words ‘under God’ now appear in the Pledge of Allegiance, I now believe that America would be a better country if everyone would recognize that we live under God and that we acknowledge our debt to the Almighty.”

AR: What happened after the court ruling came out in 1962? Were there any further developments in this area?

HTN: Yes. In 1982, Chairman Ronald Reagan began pushing for an amendment that would allow a prayer to be recited in school, and the content left for each child to decide.

The Rebbe strongly opposed that proposal out of concern that if left to the students in each classroom, non-Jews would introduce Christian prayers, which would have a detrimental effect on Jewish children. (Incidentally, while discussing this point in Congress, a senator shared a letter from a Jewish boy from his own experience to this effect.)

That same year, Rebbe began promoting the solution to the famous “Moment of Silence,” which would encourage students to reflect on a Greater Being during a brief moment at the beginning of the day. The Rebbe spoke about the “Moment of Silence” during Yud Shvat farbracht, the children’s gathering on Chol Hamoed Pesach, and at Moshiach’s Seuda on Acharon Shel Pesach.

It is worth noting that the concept of a “Moment of Silence” was not invented by the Rebbe; it had existed in New York State since 1971. But as long as there was a non-denominational prayer on the table, that was preferable. However, when the government wanted to allow students to say their own religious prayers, the Rebbe began to push for a nonverbal meditation that would not risk exposing Jewish children to Christian prayers.

AR: So the Rebbe primarily advocated the introduction of a non-denominational prayer in schools, and it was only when a proposed constitutional amendment was proposed to allow students to independently compose their own verbal prayers that the Rebbe advocated a “Moment of Silence’?

HTN: Yes.

The fact that a Moment of Silence was only a temporary solution and the Rebbe hoped to bring back a non-denominational prayer is evident from the Rebbe’s handwritten note on a letter to Senator Rudy Boschwitz. The letter is dated 28 Nissan, 5743 (1983), after the Rebbe had been talking about MOS for some time.

In the letter, the Rebbe writes: “I have been a strong supporter of establishing a non-denominational prayer in public schools, which I consider most essential in reminding the children every school day that there is a ‘seeing eye and hearing ear’. Supreme Being to whom everyone is accountable for their actions and behavior.” And there the Rebbe inserts an asterisk after the words “non-denominational prayer” and adds in handwriting: “*in the current situation, a moment of silence.”

In other words, the Rebbe primarily advocated a non-denominational prayer, but resorted to a “Moment of Silence” due to the current situation with Reagan’s prayer amendment.

Extensive research into the “current situation” to which the Rebbe referred revealed a script provided to President Reagan for a telephone conversation with Senator Boschwitz. The president tried to gain support for his amendment and called on Boschwitz to vote. In that situation it was necessary to move away from the verbal prayer and replace it with a moment of silence.

Three years later, after 5746 (1986), the Rebbe stopped promoting a Moment of Silence, which makes perfect sense since verbal religious prayer was no longer on the table.

AR: So what happened now that this is coming up again?

HTN: We now find ourselves in a unique political situation where it seems possible that a non-denominational prayer could be approved by the Supreme Court. This was confirmed by many political analysts, including the well-known constitutional lawyer Alan Dershowitz. While he is not in favor of non-denominational prayer in public schools, he affirmed that if the Supreme Court overturns the 1962 ruling if it is brought before them, it would be “pretty good.”

In addition to the positive aspect of bringing awareness to Hashem’s world, non-denominational prayer also takes the place of something harmful. As with Reagan’s amendment on prayer, there are religious Christians who would like to install a problematic prayer. Case in point: Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a public high school football coach’s Christian prayer on the football field with the players (Kennedy v. Bremerton School District).

AR: How do you propose to raise awareness about this?

HTN: We created the website HealTheNation.us to begin the effort to challenge the 1962 ruling and realize this vision that the Rebbe had for America for over 60 years. The website features a letter that Americans can generate with the names of their governor and state representatives and email it to them. We also have one radio advertisement that encourages Americans to visit the site and contact their state politicians.

If you would like to get involved, you can reach us via the website for opportunities to take this project forward, and of course you can support the charity by donating on the donation page so the advert can reach more people.

AR: Thank you very much for sharing this information with our readers and may you have much success in fulfilling the Rebbe’s hope of spreading the consciousness of Hashem to all!