CCAR RESPONSA
American Reform Responsa
21. National Flags at Religious Services
(Vol. LXIV, 1954, pp. 79-80)
QUESTION: In our Temple we have two flags on the pulpit: one is the United States flag and the other is the flag of Israel. Some members of the congregation seem much disturbed by the practice. They feel that these flags have no place in the auditorium where religious services are held and should therefore be removed to the social hall. The matter has been referred to our Committee on Religious Practice. We are anxious to avoid unnecessary emotional conflicts among our members. We should like to bring to them a proposal that would rest on sound principle and could be followed by all factions.
ANSWER: In Judaism, devotion to the welfare of the country in which one lives has long assumed the character of a religious duty.
When, in the sixth century B.C.E., the people of Judah had been carried into captivity by the Babylonian conqueror, it was the prophet Jeremiah who proclaimed God’s message to the captives in the following words: “And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray unto the Lord for it; for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace” (Jer. 29:7).
Centuries later, when the Roman emperors ruled over many kingdoms, including Palestine, it was the Rabbis who pronounced the same religious principle, “Pray for the welfare of the government,” they said, “since but for the fear thereof men would swallow one another alive” (Avot 3.2).
Accordingly, a special prayer for the ruling power soon found its way into the fixed liturgy of the synagogue (Abudarham, p. 47c). On the Sabbath Day, during the morning services, immediately after the Scriptural lesson, the prayer for the welfare of the government is recited in all the synagogues of the world. In every country the Jew thus affirms his faith from week to week that loyalty to the institutions of the particular country of which he is a citizen is a solemn religious obligation.
The presence of the American flag in the synagogues of the land, far from being an intrusion, may well serve to strengthen in us the spirit of worship. Symbolizing, as it does, the duties we owe to our country, obedience to its laws, and zealous support of its rights and interests, our national flag speaks to us with the voice of religion and partakes, therefore, of the sanctity of our religious symbols.
What the American flag is to the American Jew, the British flag is to the British Jew; the French flag is to the French Jew; and the Israeli flag, to the citizens of Israel. The American flag has no proper place in the synagogues of Israel, even as the Israeli flag is quite out of place in an American synagogue.
The United States army regulations governing the display of any national flag other than our own–and these regulations have now become the standard civilian practice as well–are quite broad and adequate. While frowning on the practice of habitually flying a foreign flag alongside the American flag, these regulations provide that (1) in the presence of a visiting dignitary of a foreign land or (2) on some notable anniversary of that land, its national flag may be displayed as a token of respect.
American Jewish congregations, if they so desire, may therefore display the Israeli flag when a representative of the State of Israel is present in their midst, or when the State of Israel celebrates a special anniversary, such as the Day of Independence.
Israel Bettan
If needed, please consult Abbreviations used in CCAR Responsa.