In December 1970, the Shorewood Village Board voted unanimously, 5-0, to remove a nativity scene from the grounds of Shorewood High School after a group (led by Christian students) appealed to the school board.
Though the crèche had been on school property and funded publicly for more than 25 years, the school board was unequivocal: The presence of an unquestionably religious structure on public property was unacceptable.
Ralph Sherman chaired the Citizens Human Relations Advisory Committee of the Shorewood School Board. Writing in the Milwaukee Journal of Jan. 19, 1971, he noted that a nativity scene on public property had been deemed in multiple court cases to be unconstitutional.
He also noted, “The nativity scene, on public grounds, is a kind of mandate, a sanction, a statement…. It says that Shorewood and Shorewood High School are Christian institutions, and all that this implies in terms of history, philosophy, theology and ethics.
“It says that all people embrace, or should embrace a specific religious identification. It says that non-Christians really do not count!”
That fight, in 1970, may inform our understanding of communal values as community members consider the presence of a sukkah on school property at Nicolet High School.
Unfortunately, like many modern issues, perpetuated by mass-copied email chains and social media blasts, community discourse has been fueled by misinformation, incorrect facts and misinterpreted intentions.
Here’s what actually happened: This fall, Nicolet’s administration clarified its policy not to allow a sukkah on school property, just as it does not permit Christmas trees or other religious displays.
Last year, the school broke from its history of religious neutrality and allowed a student-initiated sukkah in the school’s inner courtyard.
But by the end of Sukkot 2013, after receiving negative reactions from parents, students and community members, and consulting with the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation about our community’s strong commitment to the separation of church and state, the school and its attorneys settled on a different position.
They set a policy that is consistent with other local public schools — granting students permission to leave campus and observe Sukkot in a private, off campus sukkah.
This year’s activity was an example of fine cooperation. Mindful that eating in a sukkah is essential to holiday observance, Principal Greg Kabara guided students as they explored off-campus options and allowed them to leave campus without penalty.
Subsequently, a group of parents and community members built a sukkah on an adjacent private residence; and students took initiative and sought legal and appropriate ways to live rich Jewish lives while attending public school.
That arrangement — honoring public space and supporting individual religious observance — is a bedrock value of this country and has served well the American Jewish community.
With broad consensus locally and nationally, our community has repeatedly asserted that a clear division between religion and government is the best way to preserve and promote religious rights and liberties for our community and all Americans.
The special challenge of public schools is to balance the principles of religious freedom with a clear separation of religion and government. Simply, schools must give students the ability to practice their religion without creating school-endorsed religious observance.
For many years, the JCRC has worked in cooperation with local public school officials to promote a better understanding of those principles.
We know that the presence of a sukkah on school property may herald the presence of other religious displays, such as a nativity scene in Shorewood.
That slippery slope was clearly described by Rabbi Noah Chertkoff, president of the Wisconsin Council of Rabbis.
He noted that religious imagery in schools could set unintended precedents that might lead to other public expressions of faith, for example, Jesus-related imagery on display throughout the school, which could lead to optional prayer throughout the school, which could then lead to enforced prayer.
Some have envisioned a public space filled with the range of religious displays, arguing that a “yes and” philosophy could encourage knowledge and understanding of other faiths.
But history has shown that such a notion best serves the dominant culture. A public space filled with religious structures and displays will inevitably be a Christian space.
We must guard our secular public space, Chertkoff wrote in an online discussion of this issue. “There was a time when public space did not exist … when Jews were relegated to the ghetto or shtetle [small village], and professions or education were closed off from the Jewish people because of their religious adherence.
“The public sphere has leveled the playing field for our parents, for us, and for our children. Anything that threatens that public sphere, even if it may seemingly be in our favor, would erode our right to equality.”
Let us echo the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle editorial from Dec. 25, 1970, which lauded the Shorewood High School board, “not because it has decided to obey the law, but because by its action it reasserts the principle of community interest, the whole community.
“Invaluable as may be the concept of religion, it is a devotion, a free exercise, to be pursued in the home and in places of holy worship. Neither the school nor public grounds are proper province for the perpetuation of religious ritual. Separation of church and state is basic to American democracy.”
Elana Kahn-Oren is director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation.
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