Why America's 250th Anniversary Is Also a Jewish Story

As America celebrates its 250th birthday, the Jewish people begin the solemn period of the Three Weeks, beginning with the Fast of the Seventeenth of Tammuz—the day Jerusalem's walls were breached, leading to the destruction of both Holy Temples.

One day celebrates the birth of a nation.

The other reminds us never to forget our eternal home.

No nation has given the Jewish people greater freedom, opportunity, and security than the United States of America. Millions of Jews arrived on these shores with little more than hope, and America welcomed them with liberty and dignity. For that, we owe this great country a profound debt of gratitude.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe often spoke about America's unique mission. He saw this nation not only as a beacon of democracy, but as a force for faith, morality, and goodness throughout the world.

Yet, as grateful as we are, every Jew knows one timeless truth:

America may be our home—but it has never replaced our Homeland.

For nearly four thousand years, every Jewish heart faced Jerusalem. No matter where our ancestors lived, in Babylonia, Poland, Morocco, Iran, Yemen, Russia, or Lithuania, they ended the Seder with "Next Year in Jerusalem" and every wedding with "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem."

Then history changed.

For the first time, millions of Jews settled on the opposite side of the globe. Many feared that the farther Jews moved from Israel, the farther they would drift from Judaism.

Sadly, for many families, that happened.

My great-grandparents were observant Jews in Russia. My parents came to America seeking freedom but made a conscious decision to remain proudly Jewish. Today, my children and grandchildren study Torah, speak Hebrew, attend Jewish schools, and proudly carry our heritage into the future.

That miracle did not happen by accident.

It happened because the Rebbe refused to give up on American Jewry. He believed that no Jew was too distant, no soul was ever lost, and no family was beyond hope. Instead of asking Jews to search for Judaism across the ocean, he brought Judaism to every Jew, wherever they lived.

This July Fourth, I will proudly thank G-d for America, for its freedoms, its opportunities, and its friendship with the Jewish people.

But I will also remember Jerusalem.

Because the greatest gift America has given us is not that we forgot who we are.

It is that we have the freedom to remember who we are.

May G-d bless the United States of America, protect and bless Israel and its courageous soldiers, and may we soon witness the day 

when all Jews return home together with the coming of Moshiach.

Shabbat Shalom, Happy Independence Day, and Happy America 250!

Rabbi Yoseph Geisinsky