JTA — A rabbi, a Jewish mother who invokes her family’s Holocaust history, and a Jewish teenager are among seven Oklahoma residents who have asked a federal court to let them join the fight against a proposed Jewish public charter school in their state.

The group filed a motion Wednesday in federal court in Oklahoma City seeking to intervene in the lawsuit brought by the National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation, which is trying to become the nation’s first publicly funded religious school.

Rabbi Daniel Kaiman, the principal rabbi of Congregation B’nai Emunah in Tulsa, says he opposes the mixing of religion and government because of the potential for abuse. His own children attend a public elementary school in Tulsa.

“I am passionate about Jewish education — indeed, I have dedicated my life to it. Kaiman wrote in a declaration filed with the court. “Children in my congregation, including my own children, receive excellent, privately funded Jewish education through our synagogue and at home in accordance with our community values. But the mixing of religion and government creates opportunities for religious coercion.”

The motion was filed on behalf of the seven by the ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Education Law Center, the Freedom From Religion Foundation and Oklahoma Appleseed.

Ben Gamla, founded by former Florida congressman Peter Deutsch, applied last year to open a virtual K-12 school in Oklahoma where Jewish religious teachings would be woven into all subjects and employees would be required to uphold Jewish tradition in their personal lives.

The Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board rejected the application twice, in February and March, citing a 2024 Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that barred religious charter schools. The 2024 ruling stood following a 4-4 vote in the US Supreme Court after Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case, reportedly over ties to the Catholic plaintiff in that case.

Ben Gamla filed a federal........

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