Jewish leaders say Trump-backed ruling is unconstitutional and will alienate their children
The Texas ruling prompted demonstrations at the state Capitol in Austin Credit: Jay Janner/Getty
Emily Smith Foreign Breaking News Reporter Show biography
Published 17 July 2026 10:30am BST
Mandatory Bible reading for Texas school students has split the state’s religious Right, with Jewish leaders warning the move risks fuelling anti-Semitism and eroding religious freedom.
The Republican Texas state board of education voted to approve mandated Bible study in the school curriculum for more than five million students, with a spokesman declaring: “We’re going to stop watering down American history.
“We’re going to teach the truth. Our nation was founded as a Christian nation, and Texas is a Christian state.”
The changes, which will take effect in 2030, are the latest step in Texas’s drive to bring religion back into the classroom and will see children study stories such as David and Goliath, Daniel and the Lion’s Den and Noah’s Ark from the age of six.
However, the measure has prompted fierce opposition from Jewish leaders, who argue it is unconstitutional and will fuel a rapid rise in anti-Semitism across the state.
Rabbi Josh Fixler, associate rabbi at Congregation Emanu El in Houston, Texas, was among those who testified against the measure. “I absolutely think that this will contribute to anti-Semitism,” he told The Telegraph.
“If anti-Semitism is about making Jewish people feel isolated and pushing Jews out of public spaces and having Jews feel that their religious tradition is less than, then kids hearing these messages in public schools is absolutely going to isolate them.”
He added: “It’s going to result in non-Christian students, including my own kids, feeling alienated and isolated in spaces where they should feel belonging.
‘This will contribute to anti-Semitism,’ Rabbi Josh Fixler told The Telegraph Credit: joshfixler.com
Mr Fixler, who wore a tie printed with the US constitution while giving evidence, warned the policy was “absolutely a threat to religious freedom” and breached the constitutional principle of separation between church and state.
He said some Jewish families were already questioning whether to remain in the public school system.“Jewish parents are really scared,” he said. “Parents are considering whether it is time to send our kids to private Jewish schools.
“I’m the parent of three public school students and the child of a public school teacher. I believe deeply in public education, but every one of these decisions makes it harder and harder to stick to that principled decision.”
He added that the decision has led to a “huge public outcry” which has divided religious circles in the state.
The motion passed by a 9-4 vote along party lines after nearly 500 people testified before the board.
Protestors in Austin lament the ‘death’ of religious freedom Credit: Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman/AP
The school board also approved a rewrite of the state’s social studies curriculum, focusing more on Texas and US history and removing elements of global history and cultures.
Critics have also raised concerns over the curriculum’s choice of biblical texts. With one exception, every passage comes from Protestant Christian translations of the Bible.
The sole Jewish text is an outdated 1917 translation of the Book of Lamentations, which pupils aged 13 to 14 will study alongside Holocaust literature in eighth grade.
Rabbi David Segal, who also testified, said the pairing was “a very problematic, borderline offensive grouping”.
He warned it risked encouraging pupils to interpret the Holocaust as divine punishment because Lamentations links the destruction of Jerusalem to the sins of the Jewish people.
“It’s asking eighth graders to consider whether the Holocaust was God’s punishment for the sins of the Jews,” Mr Segal said.
Mr Fixler similarly warned the lesson could “significantly contribute to anti-Semitism and misunderstanding the Holocaust”.
The school board also approved a rewrite of the state’s social studies curriculum, focusing more on Texas and US history and removing elements of global history and cultures.
Critics have also raised concerns over the curriculum’s choice of biblical texts. With one exception, every passage comes from Protestant Christian translations of the Bible.
The sole Jewish text is an outdated 1917 translation of the Book of Lamentations, which pupils aged 13 to 14 will study alongside Holocaust literature in eighth grade.
Rabbi David Segal, who also testified, said the pairing was “a very problematic, borderline offensive grouping”.
He warned it risked encouraging pupils to interpret the Holocaust as divine punishment because Lamentations links the destruction of Jerusalem to the sins of the Jewish people.
“It’s asking eighth graders to consider whether the Holocaust was God’s punishment for the sins of the Jews,” Mr Segal said.
Mr Fixler similarly warned the lesson could “significantly contribute to anti-Semitism and misunderstanding the Holocaust”.
The changes, which will take effect in 2030, are the latest step in Texas’s drive to bring religion back into the classroom Credit: Jay Janner/Getty
Mr Segal, policy counsel at the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, said he supported teaching the Bible in public schools as an academic text, but opposed presenting Christianity as the default.
“Some folks who speak against it do say that there should never be Bible in public schools. That’s not my position. I actually think a lack of religious literacy and a lack of biblical literacy is part of why this list is as bad as it is,” he said.
However, the White House has thrown its weight behind the measure. Reacting to the bill, Donald Trump, the US president, declared: “Religion is back in our country, bigger and stronger than it has been in many, many years.”
Texas, which has around 5.5 million public-school students, has led conservative efforts to reshape education and has become a testing ground for Donald Trump’s pledge to expand religious expression in schools nationwide.
In 2023, the state became the first to allow school chaplains to counsel students, while last year, local government required every public-school classroom to display the Ten Commandments.
For supporters, however, the vote marked the beginning of a broader campaign to restore Christianity to the classroom. “This is just the beginning,” Mr Hall said. “We accomplished something big.”
The Texas State Board of Education has been contacted for comment.
Mr Segal, policy counsel at the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, said he supported teaching the Bible in public schools as an academic text, but opposed presenting Christianity as the default.
“Some folks who speak against it do say that there should never be Bible in public schools. That’s not my position. I actually think a lack of religious literacy and a lack of biblical literacy is part of why this list is as bad as it is,” he said.
However, the White House has thrown its weight behind the measure. Reacting to the bill, Donald Trump, the US president, declared: “Religion is back in our country, bigger and stronger than it has been in many, many years.”
Texas, which has around 5.5 million public-school students, has led conservative efforts to reshape education and has become a testing ground for Donald Trump’s pledge to expand religious expression in schools nationwide.
In 2023, the state became the first to allow school chaplains to counsel students, while last year, local government required every public-school classroom to display the Ten Commandments.
For supporters, however, the vote marked the beginning of a broader campaign to restore Christianity to the classroom. “This is just the beginning,” Mr Hall said. “We accomplished something big.”
The Texas State Board of Education has been contacted for comment.
No comments:
Post a Comment