My First Fourth of July as an American

By Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin

On a Tuesday in March, I put on my suit and a black Chassidic fedora that I usually wear for prayers. My destination was not the synagogue, however. I was going to take the oath of American citizenship, which carried for me a similar weight to a religious event.

In becoming a citizen of the United States, I was following the example of the Sixth Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, of righteous memory. After surviving Soviet imprisonment and the Nazi bombing of Warsaw, the Rebbe made it to the U.S. on March 17, 1940.

Weakened by the tribulations he had undergone at the hands of the Soviets, the Rebbe could not travel to a courthouse to take the oath of U.S. citizenship, as the law required. Instead, a dispensation was made to allow the proceeding to be held at the Rebbe’s synagogue in Brooklyn, NY.

So on March 17, 1949, U.S. Justices Leo Rayfeil and Phillip Kleinfeld went to 770 Eastern Parkway. The Rebbe greeted them wearing a fur spodik hat and a silk caftan typically reserved for holy days. He raised his right hand and vowed to “support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America.”

After the ceremony, the Rebbe thanked the representatives of the U.S. government, grateful to America for providing a home to practice one’s faith and an opportunity to strengthen Jewish life.

Indeed, America has proven to be a haven for Jewish people, and more Jews live in the U.S. than in any country besides Israel. Chabad, the movement the Rebbe led, has at least one center and a Rabbi-Rebbetzin team in each of the 50 states.

My paternal grandparents were raised in a village in Belarus, while my maternal grandparents hail from a town in Iraq. Both experienced their fair share of harassment and religious persecution, leading them to flee.

Their children—my parents—got married in Israel and then raised a family of nine children in Montreal, Canada. But however peaceful life was in the Land of Maple Syrup, we constantly visited and looked towards America and its sprawling Jewish life.

That is why becoming an American as a Jew is more than just a ceremony. When I had the privilege of becoming a U.S. citizen, like the Rebbe, it was a cause for celebration.

Due to Covid protocols, no guests were allowed to attend my ceremony. One other person and I stood in front of the immigration officer to promise to defend the Constitution of the United States.

After we each received our citizenship documents, the new fellow citizen was visibly emotional. Not having anyone else to express it to, she turned to me and said in a Hispanic accent: “I’m so happy!”

I think those words will reflect my mood this 4th of July. It will be a time to say thank you to the country I now proudly call home. And despite needing some improvements, like every home, I’m so happy to be an American.

– Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin is a Chabad Shliach in Tucson, Arizona and Editor of COLlive.com. This article was originally published in the Arizona Daily Star