On occasion, the news media get it wrong, as in the headlines in the Jerusalem Post (President Trump proclaims May ‘Jewish American Heritage Month’) and Ha’aretz (Trump Declares May ‘Jewish American Heritage Month’ – and Asian and Pacific Islander Month Too). Ha’aretz went further to explain the “declaration,” saying that “Trump’s relations with American Jews have been dogged by accusations of anti-Semitism since his election campaign and into his presidency.”
The fact is JAHM was proclaimed by President George W. Bush on April 20, 2006, and the proclamation was the work of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and the late Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), in collaboration with the Jewish Museum of Florida and the South Florida Jewish Community. Since then, annual proclamations have been made by both Presidents Bush and Barack Obama.
On February 14, 2006, Congress issued House Concurrent Resolution 315 which stated: “Resolved … that Congress urges the President to issue each year a proclamation calling on State and local governments and the people of the United States to observe an American Jewish History Month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.”
The concurrent non-binding resolution was passed unanimously, first in the House of Representatives in December 2005 and later in the Senate in February 2006.
So, while it is technically true that the JAHM proclamation needs to be re-made each year, presenting its re-make as news is tantamount to running a headline saying ‘Trump to Propose Annual Budget for 2018.’ It’s true, but not in the man bites dog category.
“During Jewish American Heritage Month, we celebrate our nation’s strong American Jewish heritage, rooted in the ancient faith and traditions of the Jewish people,” President Trump declared on Saturday. “The small band of Dutch Jews who first immigrated in 1654, seeking refuge and religious liberty, brought with them their families, their religion, and their cherished customs, which they have passed on from generation to generation.”
In 1654, 23 refugee men, women and children fleeing from the former Dutch colony of Recife, Brazil, landed in New Amsterdam. The ship’s captain, one Jacques de la Mothe, filed suit against his passengers for failure to pay the balance of their passage. The Dutch colonial governor Peter Stuyvesant seized the Jews’ possessions and ordered them sold at auction, but the amount raised was not enough to pay their debts in full. The governor then jailed two members of the group and wrote to the Dutch West India Company in Amsterdam for permission to expel all the Jews of New Amsterdam.
And that is how Jewish American Heritage started. In the end, after the Dutch government finally permitted Jews to live Holland, the Jews of New Amsterdam, and the Dutch West India company granted Jews permission to live in the colony, “so long as they do not become a burden to the company or the community.”
After pouring much praise on the US Jewish community today and throughout history, the White House statement also noted that “American Jews have even brought us our greatest superheroes – Captain America, Superman, and Batman.”
By the way, Asian and Pacific Islander Month, also celebrated in May, was originally proclaimed by President Jimmy Carter, in 1978. So, to be fair, it’s the Jews moving into the Asian calendrical neighborhood and not the other way around.