130 Results

5 Things to Know about the Jewish High Holidays

Tools and Strategies

For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the High Holidays, are celebrated by Jewish people all over the world. The High Holidays fall on different days each year. For the specific dates each year, check our Calendar of Observances. These and other Jewish holidays fall on different days in our calendar because they follow the Jewish calendar, which has a different number of days than our calendar. The Jewish calendar is a Soli-lunar calendar.&nbsp…

June 06, 2017

Unconstitutional Backdoor School Prayer Bill Will Have Unintended Consequences

Article

May 12, 2017 The Florida Legislature recently enacted a back door school prayer bill – Senate Bill 436, the so-called "Florida Student and School Personnel Religious Liberties Act," which the Governor is expected to sign. It is intended to do an end run around U.S. Supreme Court decisions barring school-sponsored prayer in K-12 public schools. Senate Bill 436 (“SB 436”) is unnecessary, raises serious constitutional issues, and creates a legal quagmire for Florida…

May 12, 2017

ADL Mourns the Passing of Cardinal William Keeler, A Pioneer in Catholic-Jewish Relations

Press Release

New York, NY, March 23, 2017 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) mourns the passing of Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore, a pioneer in Jewish-Catholic dialogue. Keeler was a special advisor to Pope John XXIII during the historic Second Vatican Council. He was appointed Archbishop of Baltimore by Pope John Paul II in 1989 and later served as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, where he was instrumental in building interfaith bonds and addressing issues involving all…

March 23, 2017

ADL Statement for House Judiciary Subcommittee Hearings on Religious Liberty

Letter

February 16, 2017 The Honorable Steve King Chair House Judiciary Subcommittee on the on the Constitution and Civil Justice U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 The Honorable Steve Cohen Ranking Member House Judiciary Subcommittee on the on the Constitution and Civil Justice U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Chairman King and Ranking Member Cohen: We write to provide the views of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for…

February 16, 2017

Distribution of Religious Materials and Proselytizing by Outside Groups and Individuals

Tools and Strategies

For Educators Individuals, including parents, and groups who have no formal relationship to a school (Third Parties) may distribute religious materials, including Bibles, to students outside of school premises. They may also discuss religious matters with students. Third-party materials or publications of a religious viewpoint may be distributed on- campus to the same extent distribution of third-party secular materials is permitted. However, courts have applied different rules to…

March 05, 2017

Release Time Programs

Tools and Strategies

For Educators Release time in the public schools refers to programs in which students are released from school early to attend religious classes off school premises. Participating students must have permission from their parents. Nonparticipating students remain in school. Such programs may be constitutional if the religious classes take place off school grounds, if no public school funds are expended, and if school officials or teachers do not promote program attendance through coercion or…

March 04, 2017

Religion in the Curriculum

Tools and Strategies

For Educators Public schools may not teach religion, although teaching about religion in a secular context is permitted.1 The Bible may be taught in a school, but only for its historical, cultural or literary value and never in a devotional, celebratory or doctrinal manner, or in such a way that encourages acceptance of the Bible as a religious document.2 SPECIFIC ISSUES & QUESTIONS What distinguishes "teaching religion" from "teaching about religion"? Religion may be presented…

March 03, 2017

7 Ideas for Teaching Women's History Month

Lesson Plan

GRADE LEVEL: Elementary School, Middle School, High School COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Language, Speaking and Listening In commemoration of Women’s History Month, this resource helps educators engage students in thinking broadly and critically about the experience of women and gender in all of its complexity. In highlighting the significant events as well as people that have made a substantial contribution to women’s experience, instruction should…

February 22, 2017

ADL Honors Sisters of Our Lady of Sion for Commitment to Justice and Interfaith Affairs

Press Release

Rome, Italy, February 10, 2017 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) honored The Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Sion for its commitment to justice and deep valuing of interfaith affairs. A delegation of ADL leaders, in Rome for a meeting with Pope Francis, presented members of the order on February 9 with the ADL Cardinal Bea Interfaith Award, which recognizes those who contribute to Catholic-Jewish relations. The Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Sion was…

February 10, 2017

ADL Leaders and Pope Francis Join to Reaffirm Jewish-Catholic Relations and Denounce Anti-Semitism

Press Release

Vatican City, February 9, 2017 … A delegation of top leaders from the Anti-Defamation League met on Thursday with Pope Francis at the Vatican, where they voiced support for the pontiff’s ongoing efforts to denounce anti-Semitism and praised his advocacy on behalf of refugees, as well as his efforts to encourage greater understanding among Christians, Muslims and Jews. “We know you understand and share our concern about the resurgence of anti-Semitism, especially in…

February 09, 2017

Remarks by Jonathan Greenblatt CEO of the Anti-Defamation League to Pope Francis

News

by: Jonathan A. Greenblatt | February 09, 2017 Your Holiness, This week, in synagogues all over the world, Jews will read Shirat Ha-yam, the “Song of the Sea” from the book of Exodus that Miriam, Moses and the Israelites sang after they miraculously passed through the Sea of Reeds on dry land. As a newly free people, they expressed their thanks to God for their redemption, saying: Who is like you, o eternal, among the…

February 09, 2017

ADL Lists Top 10 Most Inspirational Moments of 2016

Press Release

New York, NY, December 22, 2016...In a year where white nationalists and racists attempted to inject bigotry into the public square and when a divisive election season ended with unconscionable acts of hatred, there was plenty of reason for despair in 2016. And yet, there were also glimmers of hope: A community brought together in the aftershock of a mass shooting at an LGBT nightclub in Florida; a Texas campus drowning out the hateful views of an unwanted visiting white supremacist; the…

December 22, 2016

Interfaith Dialogue: A Jew and a Muslim Discuss the Spate of Hate Crimes in Aftermath of 2016 Election

Article

December 21, 2016 Editor’s Note:A Muslim academic and a Jewish interfaith rabbi recently sat down together for a discussion about the spate of hate crimes that have taken place in the aftermath of the 2016 election campaign and what can happen with Jews and Muslims work together to combat hate speech. The following conversation between Dr. Mehnaz Afridi, Director of the Holocaust and Genocide Institute at Manhattan College, and Rabbi David Sandmel, Director of Interreligious…

December 21, 2016

How Can I Plan Inclusive Holiday Celebrations?

Tools and Strategies

For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Most people love a celebration! Adults flutter around busily preparing for the festivities. Children are abuzz with excitement. Special foods are eaten, special heirlooms brought down from the shelf. Traditions are passed down from generation to generation. While children should have an opportunity to learn about and share information about the important holidays and celebrations in their lives, celebrating specific holidays in a school or…

November 21, 2016

How Can I Help Children Appreciate Diversity?

Tools and Strategies

Early Childhood Question Corner For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers You can help children embrace differences by exposing them to diversity as early as possible. This can be a natural part of everyday living as children develop relationships outside their family. Answer children’s questions about differences openly and honestly as they come up, and if you don't know the answers, seek them out. Another way to ensure diversity in children’s lives is to…

November 15, 2016

8 Ideas for Teaching National Hispanic Heritage Month

Lesson Plan

GRADE LEVEL: Elementary School, Middle School, High School COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Language, Speaking and Listening Commemorating National Hispanic Heritage Month In commemoration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, we present this resource to help teachers engage students in thinking broadly and critically about the Hispanic American experience in all of its complexity. In highlighting the significant events as well as people that have made a substantial contribution…

August 19, 2016

ADL: The Mikvah Law Misuses State-Funded Facilities to Discriminate Against Non-Orthodox Jews

Press Release

Jerusalem, July 27, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today strongly condemned passage in the Knesset of the “mikvah law,” which bars the ritual immersion of converts by non-Orthodox rabbis in public mikvahs (ritual baths), saying that it is using a state-funded facilities to discriminate. Immersion in the mikvah is the final step in the process of converting to Judaism. The law, initiated by MK Moshe Gafni, strives to override the Israeli Supreme Court…

July 27, 2016

ADL Strongly Condemns Rejection of Prominent New York Rabbi by Israel’s Supreme Rabbinical Court

Press Release

New York, NY, July 14, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today strongly condemned the decision by Israel’s Supreme Rabbinical court to reject the authority of prominent New York Orthodox Rabbi Haskel Lookstein by invalidating his conversion of an American woman to Judaism. ADL called the court’s decision a “slap in the face” to American Jewry, including those who have chosen to join the Jewish people, and said it highlights just how extreme the Israeli…

July 14, 2016

ADL to Supreme Court: States Can Provide Broader Church-State Separation

Press Release

New York, NY, July 5, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today joined a friend-of-the court brief to the U.S. Supreme Court defending a Missouri constitutional provision that provides broader separation of church and state than the U.S. Constitution. In the case titled, Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Parker, the State denied direct grants to houses of worship under this provision. “The petitioner is seeking an unprecedented ruling from the Court that…

July 05, 2016

ADL Welcomes Quartet’s Call to Palestinian Leaders to Stop Incitement Against Israel

Press Release

New York, NY, July 1, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today welcomed the Middle East Quartet’s call on the Palestinian Authority to “act decisively” to stop incitement to violence and strengthen efforts to combat terrorism following a series of deadly terrorist attacks in Israel over the last few days. “In the aftermath of two deadly days in Israel, when civilians have been targeted in their beds, on the street and in their cars, it is clear that…

July 01, 2016