What We Do
Judaism Beyond Nationalism
The ACJ offers Jewish education, intercommunal connections, and religious guidance beyond nationalism—free from the Zionist idea of Judaism as a nationality or the elevation of one nation above others. We support individuals, locally rooted groups, and synagogues in cultivating Jewish ritual spaces and practices grounded in justice, solidarity, and humility.
Featured Programming
- Education Series
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Judaism in Times of Fascism: An Eight Week Course on Theory and Practice
This course will provide students with a unique venue for this inquiry. Students will be introduced to key concepts, theories, and methods that can help us make sense of loaded terms like "Judaism," "fascism," and "antifascism"; to historical readings and case studies that illuminate the lineages of Jewish antifascism -- including anarchist, Bundist, liberal, and Marxist varieties -- as well as the lesser known histories of Jewish fascism; and to recent texts and other media that address the crisis within contemporary Judaism. Finally, the course will feature ample opportunities for open discussion, and will conclude with a consideration of the possibilities for an emancipatory Judaism and a world without fascism.
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- Education Series
- Streaming
Introduction to Judaism Beyond Nationalism Cohort 3
Introduction to Judaism Beyond Nationalism is a broad-stroke survey of Jewish life, culture, belief and non-belief, and the major ideas that have shaped Jews and Judaism across time. The course offers participants a grounding in the practices, philosophies, and expressions of Jewish life from the ancient world to the present.
The course is divided into two 8-week modules. A third module, focused on personal Jewish development and practice-building, will be offered after the conclusion of Module 2.
Recordings will be provided for anyone who cannot attend live. We encourage regular participation, while recognizing that life happens. The course pairs well with either Judaisms by Aaron Hahn Tapper or Jewish History: A Very Short Introduction by David Meyer.
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- Event
- Streaming
Sources of Pride: A Conversation with Rabbi Abby Stein
Join Rabbi Andy Kahn and Rabbi Abby Chava Stein for a powerful conversation about the evolving edges of Jewish life today. Abby reflects on growing up in a Haredi community shaped by anti-Zionist teachings, how those ideas have shifted over time, and how her journey as a trans woman has helped her craft a Judaism rooted in truth, dignity, and expansive possibility.
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- Education Series
- Streaming
From Trauma to Transformation: A Conversation with Rabbi Tirzah Firestone
Join Rabbi Andrue Kahn for a conversation with Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, acclaimed Jungian psychotherapist, teacher of Jewish renewal, and author of Wounds into Wisdom: Healing Intergenerational Jewish Trauma. Drawing on Jewish tradition, psychology, and case studies from across the globe, Rabbi Firestone offers seven principles for transforming inherited pain into resilience and moral clarity. Together, we'll explore how Jewish wisdom can guide us through grief, hope, and collective transformation in this season of reflection.
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- Education Series
- Streaming
Dismantling Antisemitism with Kohenet Shoshana Brown
Join Rabbi Andy Kahn and Kohenet Shoshana Brown for a powerful conversation about how accusations of antisemitism are increasingly weaponized to silence dissent, divide communities, and align Jewish identity with far-right agendas. We'll explore how to dismantle antisemitism through liberatory, non-punitive practices grounded in restorative justice, solidarity, and collective healing.
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- Education Series
- Streaming
Beyond Fear: Combatting Antisemitism with Shane Burley and Ben Lorber
Rabbi Andy Kahn will be joined by Ben Lorber and Shane Burley to discuss their recent book, Safety Through Solidarity. The discussion will highlight approaches of shared responsibility across difference in the fight for justice and safety for all people as as the most effective form of combatting antisemitism.
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- Education Series
- Streaming
People, Faith, Nation: Exploring Judaism’s Many Identities with Professor Rabbi Shaul Magid
Join Rabbi Andy Kahn in conversation with Professor Rabbi Shaul Magid for a deep dive into the possibilities of post-ethnic Judaism in America. Together, they’ll explore how shifting tides in Jewish identity intersect with the growing crisis of Zionism, and what this moment might mean for reimagining Jewish life beyond nationalism.
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Featured Articles
Vayeitzei: The Fear That Won’t Look Away
Jacob’s story shows that deception ends only when he allows himself to feel the full weight of pachad, the fear that brings truth into view. This week's Torah portion calls us to adopt that same moral discipline in a time when misinformation and state violence rely on our willingness to look away.
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- News
Jews differ on both Zionism and Mamdani
This essay argues that American Jews face a defining choice between a Judaism bound to nationalism and one rooted in ethical universalism and democratic freedom. Reclaiming Judaism’s tradition of debate and conscience, it calls for building diverse, democratic Jewish futures grounded in human dignity and collective liberation.
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- History Series
What is “The Jewish People?”
Today, it is our duty to reach back to the sources of our traditions to seek out who they were built for—a search for who we are today in line with the question of 'who have we been'?
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- Special Interest Report
American Jewish Groups Show Division Over Israel’s Role in Gaza
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- Issues
For Whom Does The "Jewish Establishment" Really Speak?
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We believe that the present tragic experiences of mankind abundantly demonstrate that no single people or group can hope to live in freedom and security when their neighbors are in the grip of evil forces either as perpetrators or sufferers. We hold therefore, that the solution of the social, economic and political problems of one people are inextricably bound up with those of others.
ACJ in the news
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Rabbi Andy Kahn on Flashpoints
Executive Director Rabbi Andy Kahn joined Flashpoints to discuss the Mamdani candidacy and the running debate in the American Jewish community about Zionism and Israel.
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Jews differ on both Zionism and Mamdani
This essay argues that American Jews face a defining choice between a Judaism bound to nationalism and one rooted in ethical universalism and democratic freedom. Tracing its lineage to the early Reform movement, the American Council for Judaism reaffirms that Jewish life does not depend on a state but on Torah’s core teaching that every person is created b’tzelem Elohim—in the image of God. Rabbi Andrue Kahn denounces the recent “Rabbinic Call” attacking Zohran Mamdani as an authoritarian attempt to equate Jewish identity with loyalty to Israel and to silence dissent within Jewish and Democratic politics. Most Jews, he contends, reject such conflation and oppose Israel’s assault on Gaza, seeing Jewish safety in solidarity and justice at home, not in nationalism abroad. Reclaiming Judaism’s tradition of debate and conscience, Kahn calls for building diverse, democratic Jewish futures grounded in human dignity and collective liberation.
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During the High Holidays This Year, We Are Reaching Toward an Abolition Judaism
This essay critiques the weaponization of “Judeo-Christian values” as a tool of domination linking Zionism, policing, and carceral logics across the U.S. and Israel, arguing that true Jewish safety and ethics lie instead in solidarity and abolition. It traces how mainstream Jewish institutions, trained in nationalist theology, have replaced Judaism’s vision of olam habah—the World to Come—with an ethnonationalist project centered on Israel, rendering Jewish ethical wisdom inaccessible to abolitionist movements. Drawing on thinkers like Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Mariam Kaba, and Maimonides, the authors frame Abolition Judaism as a spiritual-political project: recoupling Jewish culture with the struggle to build a restructured, liberated society. Using the Book of Jonah as parable, they call Jews to reject punitive “righteousness,” practice teshuvah (repentance) as collective transformation, and move beyond nationalism toward a world of justice, freedom, and interdependence.
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Rosh Hashana helps us envision a Judaism beyond nationalism
As debates over antisemitism, Zionism, and Judaism intensify, this piece argues that Rosh Hashana’s universal vision offers a corrective to the ethnonationalism that has come to dominate Jewish identity. The essay traces how early 20th-century thinkers like Louis Brandeis and Mordecai Kaplan redefined Judaism through the lens of “Jewish peoplehood,” merging chosenness with nationalism and tying Jewish belonging to the state of Israel. In contrast, Jewish history shows a plural, diasporic tradition grounded in covenant and ethical responsibility, not national unity. Drawing on thinkers like Maimonides, Judith Plaskow, and Judith Butler, the essay calls for reclaiming Judaism as a universal, justice-oriented practice of interdependence that thrives among diverse communities, dedicated to the flourishing of all life.