Biblical Moses, the foundation of US – Israel Ties

Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, “Second Thought: a US-Israel Initiative” “Israel Hayom”, October 23, 2016,

According to Prof. Robert Bellah, a leading UC Berkeley sociologist, there is “a well-institutionalized civil religion” in the US, which stipulates separation between religion and state, but not between religion and society.  In fact, President John Quincy Adams wrote: “The law given from Sinai was a civil and municipal , as well as a moral and religious code.”

Prof. Bellah contended that civil liberties – reflecting more responsibility than rights – are Bible-driven: “Behind civil religion lie biblical archetypes [such as] the Exodus, Chosen People, Promised Land, New Jerusalem… a heritage of moral and religious experience….”

The legacy of Moses, the definitive law-giver, has been such an archetype, an integral part of US cultural, ethical, legal and political history, highlighting Judeo-Christian ethical principles that shaped the USA and forged the foundation of its special ties with the Jewish State.  Therefore, most Americans – from the early Pilgrims, through the Founding Fathers, until today – hold Israel in high regard, consider the Jewish state more than just a foreign policy issue.

Thus, the metaphor of Moses has been employed extensively in the US political discourse.  For instance, in April 2010, Prof. Thomas Sugrue wrote in his book, Not even past: Barack Obama and the burden of race: “The metaphor of Moses and Joshua, the freedom fighter and the nation builder, offered a powerful framework for Obama’s campaign.” In January 2000, the Republican leader in the Senate, Senator Mitch McConnell, greeted the newly-elected President George W. Bush, at the traditional post-inauguration Senate luncheon: “We trust that you shall lead us in the best tradition of Joshua and Caleb.”  On January 14, 2013, the Kansas City Star wrote: “Martin Luther King must have had Moses in mind that night of his last sermon when he said, ‘God has allowed me to go up on the mountain, and I have seen the Promised Land.'” Harriet Tubman, a leading abolitionist and a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad, was named “Mama Moses.”

On June 27, 2005, the US Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the 6-foot-high Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol. According to Chief Justice Rehnquist: “Religion has been closely identified with our history and government…. Acknowledgements of the role played by the Ten Commandments in our nation’s heritage are common throughout America…. Since 1935, Moses has stood, holding two tablets that reveal portions of the Ten Commandments written in Hebrew, among other lawgivers in the south frieze [of the US Supreme Court….] Representations of the Ten Commandments adorn the metal gates lining the north and south sides of the Courtroom as well as the doors leading into the Courtroom.  Moses also sits on the exterior east façade of the [US Supreme Court] holding the tablets of the Ten Commandments…. Since 1897, a large statue of Moses holding the Ten Commandments, alongside a statue of the Apostle Paul, has overlooked the rotunda of the Library of Congress’ Jefferson Building.  A medallion with two tablets depicting the Ten Commandments decorates the floor of the National Archives.  Inside the Justice Department, a statue entitled ‘The Spirit of Law’ has two tablets representing the Ten Commandments lying at its feet.  In front of the Ronald Reagan Building stands another sculpture that includes a depiction of the Ten Commandments. So too a 24-foot-tall sculpture, outside the Federal Courthouse, depicting, among other things, the Ten Commandments and a cross. Moses is also prominently featured in the Chamber of the United States House of Representatives…. Moses was a lawgiver as well as a religious leader, and the Ten Commandments have undeniable historical meaning….”

A February 25-27, 2005 Gallup Poll showed that 76% of Americans were in favor of displaying the Ten Commandments monument on the ground of the Texas State Capitol.

Moreover, on March 29, 2006, the California State Senate approved bill SCR 108 stating: “This measure would recognize and acknowledge that the Decalogue, also known as the Ten Commandments, ranks among the influential historical documents that have contributed significantly to the development of the secular governmental and legal principles and institutions of the USA and the State of California…. In the history of American institutions, no book – except the Bible – has played so great a role…. Members of the US Supreme Court have noted the foundational role played by the Ten Commandments in the development of our legal system….”

Furthermore, on April 8, 2015, Arkansas Governor, Asa Hutchinson, signed into law a bill instructing the state to erect a privately-funded Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of the State Capitol in Little Rock. The Arkansas State House and the Senate approved the bill 72:7 and 27:3 respectively.

President Truman stated: “The fundamental basis of this nation’s laws was given to Moses on the Mount…” A century earlier, President Lincoln referred to Exodus, Chapter 20, the Ten Commandments, as the summation of his theology.

Moses and/or the Ten Commandments feature in the US Federal Courthouses in Cleveland, OH and Indianapolis, IN; the Supreme Courts in Harrisburg, PA, St. Paul, MN, Lansing, MI and Knoxville, TN; the County Courthouses in Cleveland, OH, West Chester, PA, Pittsburgh, PA, Ft. Wayne, IN and Jackson, MS; the Appellate Court in Brooklyn, NY; the Boston Public Library and the State Capitol in Lincoln, NE; etc.

Moses and the Ten Commandments have always been part of the American story, playing a role in the shaping the state-of-mind of the American people. They have underscored the 400-year-old Judeo-Christian foundation of the US-Israel covenant, which has transcended transient politics and geo-strategic considerations, catapulting US-Israel cooperation to unprecedented levels – in defiance of the Department of State – but consistent with the will of the American people.

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The Declaration of Independence
By Myra Kahn Adam, TOWNHALL

Thanks for joining us on this Independence Day weekend when vacations, barbeques, fireworks, beer-drinking, and hot-dog-eating contests take precedence over reading about God in the Declaration of Independence.

But undaunted, we forge ahead with a quote from Monticello.org (Thomas Jefferson’s home) calling the Declaration of Independence that he penned “America’s mission statement.” (A fine example of juxtaposing a modern management concept with a world-changing document.)

The “mission statement” reflected beliefs that “motivated the Founders to create the first free people in modern times,” wrote Earl Taylor Jr. from the National Center for Constitutional Studies.

However, geopolitically speaking, the Founders were embarking on “mission impossible,” considering the tremendous odds against “mission accomplished.”

Remember that 13 geographically separated, culturally and economically diverse colonies banded together to become “the united States of America.” (Note the “u” in “united” was not capitalized in the Declaration’s opening sentence.) But first, the new nation had to extricate itself from the bondage of Great Britain, the world’s reigning superpower. And that explains why the Declaration of Independence references the founder’s faith and trust in God — the Heavenly Superpower.

Ultimately, that faith and trust resulted in a miraculous outcome. But it took eight grueling years of war that started in April 1775 and ended on September 3, 1783, when the Treaty of Paris was signed.

Today we will review some passages from the Declaration of Independence that read like Scripture, acknowledging God’s power — “firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence” — to establish a free and independent nation.
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Now we are ready to read the Declaration’s opening paragraph from a new perspective with capitalization as it appears:

“The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

The Founders’ belief that the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them” to declare independence from the motherland sets the stage for a revolutionary governing concept that separated the new nation from any nation in history:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

As I previously wrote in Vol. 17 mirroring my RealClearPolitics op-ed from July 3, 2020:

“No nation had ever been birthed with rights ‘endowed’ by God — as opposed to a king or an equally powerful human. That was revolutionary! As [President Ronald] Reagan wrote, ‘the only true philosophical revolution in all history.’ Most significant, the concept was blessed by God. If not, how could ragtag militias of under-equipped patriots have managed to defeat what was then the greatest military power on earth? The American triumph was no coincidence.”

And today, I will add that although the Founders are routinely criticized and judged by today’s laws and cultural norms, they must never be faulted for their faith and trust in God to birth our nation.

The body of the Declaration of Independence states all the grievances, “repeated injuries,” and “absolute Tryanny” that the Founders believed were perpetrated upon the colonies by the “present King of Great Britain.” The lengthy list began with “To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world,” and the first one:

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“He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.”

And when the list was finished, summarized as follows:

“We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.”

The Declaration’s final sentence is extremely bold when the Founders proclaimed to the world the identity of their protector and chief ally:

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

Then, directly underneath, 56 brave men signed their names, knowing they were signing a Declaration of death if this Declaration of Independence were to fail.

Fortunately, that “firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence” proved decisive and is still applicable to our lives and nation. He can and will protect us, against all odds, if we rely on Him. Amen!