by Josh Blackman • 3 minutes
I am grateful that First Liberty invited me to write for its newsletter. I have been involved with them for nearly a decade and am honored to support their vital work of protecting religious liberty.
My first contribution will address an important theme: religious liberty is for all religions. Far too often, the mainstream media derides religious liberty, often in scare quotes, as something that only Christians care about. Not so. I am Jewish, and I work to advance the cause of religious freedom with the Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty. First Liberty has been an invaluable partner in this fight.
In 2016, a group of poultry activists sued a Rabbi in California on the eve of the Jewish New Year. The Rabbi, preoccupied with important religious observances, did not have time to respond to the last-minute suit. A federal judge didn’t bother to wait and issued an emergency order that prohibited the Rabbi from performing an important ritual that involves chickens.
I found out about the case and stayed up all night preparing a brief in support of the Rabbi. At the same time, the First Liberty swooped in and prepared a representation for the Rabbi in about 24 hours. With little notice, they presented oral arguments over the phone. When no one else was there to defend this Rabbi, they stepped up to the plate. I wrote about the case in the Los Angeles Times.
In 2021, a group of Jewish people in a Houston neighborhood began holding services in a home. Over time, more and more people started to attend this small, friendly minyan. It was called Heimish, which means homey in Yiddish. Some neighbors began to complain about the noise, and the City of Houston threatened to take a zoning enforcement action.
Once again, First Liberty stepped up to the plate, filing a lawsuit. The City of Houston never even bothered to respond to the suit. Instead, the government backed down. To this day, Heimish continues to flourish. First Liberty deserves much credit here.
In August 2025, they also secured a victory for a Jewish student at the University of Wisconsin. The student requested on campus housing in walking distance to a synagogue, so she could walk to Shabbat services. After receiving their demand letter, the University surrendered. There are many more cases: a property dispute for a Chabad synagogue in Long Island, harassment of a Rabbi in Boca Raton, a Jewish prayer group in Hawaii, a Rabbi in Beverly Hills, and many more. I could go on.
Every year I speak at First Liberty’s annual conference, which usually runs over the weekend. For the past few years, I have brought shabbat candles, challah, and grape juice so my family can celebrate Shabbat. This past year, their staff volunteered to coordinate everything and brought all of the things needed to celebrate. It was such a thoughtful gesture, for which I was grateful. Indeed, my kids led a mini shabbat service for many people in attendance, who had never had that experience. It was beautiful.
Religious liberty is for all religions. Indeed, in these precarious times, it is so important to stand shoulder-to-shoulder and defend America’s Judeo-Christian tradition. I am proud that First Liberty will always fight up to defend these deeply rooted values.
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Josh Blackman is a national thought leader on constitutional law and the United States Supreme Court. He also serves as a professor at the South Texas College of Law Houston. He holds the Centennial Chair of Constitutional Law.
