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Why Jews, many Christians are opposed to adding Esther to the curriculum in Texas schools

This story was originally published in the Forward. Click here to get the Forward's free email newsletters delivered to your inbox.

Neil Blumofe, dressed in a dark suit and white cowboy hat, was standing near dozens of worshippers—one shouting, "In Jesus's name!," another carrying a Christian flag, someone else blowing a shofar—in a scene that could easily have been confused for a Pentacostal tent revival. 

But it was actually a gathering in the lobby of a Texas state office building in downtown Austin ahead of a vote by the state board of education. Blumofe was not surprised by the scene. “It’s not my first rodeo,” said the rabbi of Congregation Agudas Achim, a Conservative synagogue with 700 families.