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<\/a><\/p>\nAttendees wear hats reading “Make America Pray Again” before former U.S. President and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump addresses Christian broadcasters at the National Religious Broadcasters International Christian Media Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, on Feb. 22, 2024. (Kevin Wurm\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The guidelines namecheck tefillin, Jewish prayer phylacteries, as an example of a religious item that federal workers may leave on their desks and use during breaks.<\/p>\n
In a memo titled \u201cProtecting Religious Expression in the Federal Workplace\u201d sent on Monday by the Office of Personnel Management, the federal government\u2019s human resources agency, the office said federal workplaces should be \u201ca welcoming place\u201d for employees who practice religion \u2014 or want to proselytize, within limits.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring a break, an employee may engage another in polite discussion of why his faith is correct and why the non-adherent should re-think his religious beliefs,\u201d the memo says before adding, \u201cHowever, if the nonadherent requests such attempts to stop, the employee should honor the request.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new policy comes amid a concerted effort by the Trump administration to erode the separation of church and state, a goal of many on the Christian right that has drawn criticism from some Jewish groups and leaders.<\/p>\n
\u201cFederal employees should never have to choose between their faith and their career,\u201d OPM Director Scott Kupor said in a statement about the new guidance. \u201cThis guidance ensures the federal workplace is not just compliant with the law but welcoming to Americans of all faiths. Under President Trump\u02bcs leadership, we are restoring constitutional freedoms and making government a place where people of faith are respected, not sidelined.\u201d<\/p>\n
The memo says employees may form prayer groups that meet at the office when they are not on duty, invite colleagues to attend their church even when they know the colleagues do not belong, or, in the case of Veteran\u2019s Administration staffers, pray over the health of their patients.<\/p>\n
Among the other examples of protect religious expression it outlines refers to Jewish prayer phylacteries. \u201cAn employee may keep a Bible on her desk, and may read it during breaks. Similarly, an employee may keep rosary beads or tefillin on her desk,\u201d the memo says. \u201cDuring breaks, she may use such items to pray.\u201d<\/p>\n
The mention of tefillin is notable because their use by women, who are not required according to traditional Jewish law to wear them, has been heavily contested in some observant communities where men use them daily in morning prayers.<\/p>\n