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January 20, 2017

Inauguration: The Most Jewish of American Public Rituals

Renewing the covenant.

Going back to the Mayflower Compact, argues Jonathans Sacks, Americans have historically seen government in terms of a covenant—a concept that ultimately stems from the Hebrew Bible. The presidential inauguration is thus a periodic renewal of the American covenant, modeled after Moses’ renewal of the Israelites’ covenant with God in Deuteronomy and the commandment (in Deuteronomy 31) that the kings of Israel symbolically renew the covenant with a public reading from the Torah every seven years. (Video, 15 minutes.)

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January 20, 2017

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  4. The Problem with “Jewish” Presidents

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  5. Inauguration: The Most Jewish of American Public Rituals

    Renewing the covenant.