Jews cheer 10 Commandments win, but worry

They also worry that public response to the Ten Commandments case might cause some federal judges to let other unpopular orders go unenforced.

"What is symbolic about any discussion is the depths of feelings on both sides," said Marc Stern, the American Jewish Congress' general counsel. "These two sides really don't understand each other."

Jewish groups were active while the case was in the courts, supporting efforts to force Moore to remove the monument, which he installed one night two years ago.

But since the federal court ruled in their favor last year, Jewish groups have taken a less active role -- waiting and watching as Moore defied the court order.

State officials took action Wednesday to move the monument from the building's rotunda to a private area, while Christian activists who support Moore prayed outside.

Despite often taking a religiously conservative stance on church-state issues, the fervently Orthodox group Agudath Israel of America has not taken a position on the Ten Commandments case.

"God and the concept of mortality does not violate the church-state separation," said Rabbi Avi Shafran, Agudah's director of public affairs. "But something that is blatantly of support of a particular religion would be very clearly unconstitutional."

Other Jewish organizations filed briefs seeking the monument's removal last year, claiming it violated the Constitution's ban on government promotion of religion.

Lauter said she repeatedly has had to explain the difference between a tablet of the Ten Commandments in a courthouse and the words "In God We Trust" on American currency.

"'In God We Trust' is not saying, 'This is a Christian nation,'" she said. "The statue, with Judge Moore's rhetoric, is saying, 'This is a Christian nation.'"