JEFFERSON CITY — State Rep. John Martin, R-Columbia, and state Rep. George Hruza, R-St. Louis, hosted the annual Missouri Jewish American Heritage Month Celebration on Wednesday morning in the Capitol rotunda.
More than a dozen people attended to hear Jewish community leaders and lawmakers recognize Jewish Missourians’ contributions to medicine, entrepreneurship, education and philanthropy.
“It’s an opportunity to appreciate all the stuff the Jewish community has done,” Hruza said.
Acknowledgment of harassment and discrimination was a timely topic of conversation. House Bill 2061, Hruza’s Jewish Student Safety Bill, recently became law. The House of Representatives voted 100-17 in favor of the bill in March, and it has been in effect since Aug. 28.
The bill introduces new standards and guidelines for Missouri schools for handling antisemitic behavior and other hate speech.
“It is giving schools a tool to include in their rules and regulations so that if there is an antisemitic incident or potential incident, they can assess it,” Hruza said.
“It’s really to make sure that Jewish students know that we have their back and ultimately the school has their back, so they can attend school without fear of intimidation or harassment because they are Jewish,” he added.
Speakers at the event affirmed that Jewish heritage in America is a living tradition rooted in family, faith, music and observance of holidays and traditions passed down through generations.
Attendees were reminded that violent harassment and persecution of Jewish people still occur across the globe and in Missouri.
“It is important to recognize that our Jewish fellow Missourians should be treated equally like other people,” Martin said.
Martin and others stressed the importance of Missourians feeling safe and welcomed in our communities.
“The point is to recognize that there are challenges, and we need to bring that to light,” Martin said.
Beginning in 2023, all statewide officials, alongside Gov. Mike Parson and the Missouri chapter of the Coalition of Jewish Values, declared September Jewish American Heritage Month.
The nationally acknowledged month celebrating Jewish heritage is May. However, several major Jewish holidays, such as Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah and the beginning of Sukkot, are observed in September, prompting the state’s recognition of the month.