The Jewish American Experience

Part 1: Coming to America

Terms

• Diaspora – scattering of a population. When capitalized (Diaspora) it refers to the Jewish exile from Israel.

• Ghetto – an area of a city or town where members of a minority group live; the original usage is believed to have referred to the Jewish section of Venice.

• Pogrom – a Russian word meaning “to harm.” Most commonly it refers to violence directed against Jews.

The Diaspora – We Were Exiles

• 135 CE The Bar Kokhba revolt, exiled from Judea

• 1120 CE Berber invasion of Spain, Maimonides and others flee

• 1290 CE Edict of Expulsion in England

• 1293 CE Destruction of Jewish communities in Naples

• 1492 CE Edict of Expulsion in Spain, Inquisition begins. Alhambra

Decree, forced conversions

• 1496 CE Jews expelled from Portugal

• 1499 CE Jews expelled from Nuremberg

• 1569 CE Jews expelled from Papal lands

• 1654 CE Dutch colony of Recife falls to the Portuguese

Recife and the New World

The Netherlands (Holland) had been held by the Spanish. The Dutch had been more tolerant of Jews openly practicing their religion. Amsterdam in particular was home to a large Jewish population. Many of these Jews migrated to colonies in the New World with Recife in Brazil being a destination. Synagogue Kahal Zur Israel was established in two houses on Ruados Judeus, the Street of the Jews.

New Amsterdam

In 1654, Jacob Barsimson, an agent of the Dutch Jewish community arrives.

That same year a group of 23 Jews from Recife in Brazil flee the Portuguese aboard the Sainte Catherine. Barsimson meets them.

Arriving in the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, they are imprisoned by Gov. Peter Stuyvesant, “the deceitful race, the hateful enemies and blasphemers of the name of Christ…”

The Dutch West India Company, with Jewish investors, overrules Stuyvesant. The American experience has begun.

Those Rebellious JewsAsser Levy was a contemporary of Barsimsonand may have been responsible for gaining the freedom of the Recife fugitives. The two of them would partner to overturn an onerous law: Jews were required to pay a tax instead of being allowed to serve in the military. The overturn of this law marks the acceptance of Jews as full citizens. Levy would purchase an estate near Albany, becoming the first Jew to own land in America. Levy appears as a frequent litigant in Dutch colonial law cases.

Tuoro Synagogue

• 1658 The first Jews land in Newport, Rhode Island from Recife. They establish congregation Yeshuat Israel—the Salvation of Israel

• 1677 First Jewish cemetery in the New World is established at the intersection of Kay and Tourostreets.

• Jews came from Brazil to the West Indies then to Rhode Island

• 1763 Construction begins on the Tuoro synagogue, considered the oldest in America*

Haym Saloman and the Revolution

Born in Poland in 1740, Haym (Chaim) Saloman traveled widely in Europe before coming to America in 1770. He spoke several languages and had gained an understanding of finance. He joined the Sons of Liberty and was arrested by the British as a spy in 1776. Paroled on condition that he serve as an interpreter for the Hessians, he used his position to help prisoners escape and to encourage the Hessians to desert.

Winter at Valley Forge

Arrested again in 1778, Saloman was sentenced to death. Again he escaped, moving to Philadelphia to become a broker. He raised funds for the Revolution. In modern currency Saloman would have raised $18 billion.

When Washington’s army was trapped at Valley Forge without supplies or funds Washington famously said “Send for Haym Salomon".

Washington’s Letter to Tuoro Synagogue

On August 17th, 1790, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and NY Governor George Clinton went to Rhode Island. From Washington’s letter:

For happily the Government of the United States gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.

(Sic) every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.

The Jews of Charleston, South Carolina

• The charter of the city, drawn up by English philosopher John Locke guaranteed freedom of expression to “Jews, heathens, and dissenters.“

• By 1816, Charleston had a Jewish population of 600, the largest of any city in America. There were over 2,000 Jews in South Carolina.

• In 1774, Francis Salvador was elected to the Provincial Congress, the first Jew to hold elected position in America.

• In 1824 members of Congregation Beth Elohim in Charleston petitioned for shorter services conducted in English. Rejected, they formed the Reform Society of Israelites.

The Germans Arrive – “Our Crowd”

Beginning in the 1830s a group of Jews from a relatively small area in Germany arrived in America. They came from relative obscurity but achieved tremendous wealth in a short time.

Joseph Seligman arrived in America in 1837 at age 18. Settling in Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, he started as a cashier. He earned enough money to bring over his two brothers. They started as peddlers, but soon opened a chain of stores, including locations in NY and SF.

During the Civil War, Seligman sold $200 million of bonds for the Union. By the time the war ended, the Seligmans were the leading financiers in America.

Jacob Schiff – the “International Jew”

• Born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1847, Schiff came to America in 1865. By 1885 he was the head of Kuhn, Loeb & Co. and was one of the wealthiest men in the world.

• Angered by the Russian Empire’s treatment of the Jews (pogroms) Schiff extended a $200 million loan to Japan to prepare for the Russo-Japanese War.

• Schiff was a top philanthropist donating to the American Red Cross, Henry Street Settlement House, Visiting Nurse Service and others.

The New Colossus

Emma Lazurus was born in New York in 1849. She came from a large Sephardic Jewish family that had fled Portugal to come to America long before the American Revolution.

Her first published work Poems and Translationswas printed in 1867. In 1883 she wrote The New Colossus for an auction to raise funds for the base of the Statue of Liberty. That same year, she founded an organization to help Eastern European Jews acclimate to America and she argued of the need for a Jewish homeland.

Anti-Semitism In America• Industrialist Henry Ford believed that Jews were

responsible for WW I, singling out “International financiers” such as Jacob Schiff. Ford bought the Dearborn Independent newspaper to print articles on the International Jew and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

• Starting in 1926, Father Charles Coughlin had a radio show that reached millions of homes. He supported Hitler and railed against Jewish financiers.

• In 1913, Leo Frank was convicted of murdering a young girl. Two years later, when his sentence was commuted, he was lynched.

The Best of Times, the Worst of Times

The pogroms had begun in Eastern Europe. Between 1881 and 1925 an estimated 2.8 million Jews would flee to America. Coming through Ellis Island, most would find at least a temporary home in New York’s Lower East Side.

In stark contrast to the German Jews like Seligman and Schiff, these Jews were poor, lived in a cramped ghetto, and were the victims of crime and prejudice.

The Lower East Side also had a vibrant culture including klezmer music, Yiddish theater, and burlesque.

Anti-Immigration Policy and Eugenics

• America passed a number of laws targeting immigrants from Asia, Italy and Eastern Europe.

• The 1917 Act mandated a literacy test for immigrants over 16 to demonstrate literacy in English.

• The 1924 Act set quotas by nation and excluded Asians from entry.

• The American Eugenics movement tried to reduce poverty by reducing the number of poor people. Planned Parenthood (Margaret Sanger) was the voluntary part. Many states introduced compulsory sterilization laws. Over 60,000 people were sterilized in America.

FDR and World War II

• Most Americans opposed our involvement in World War II.

• Isolationism, support for Hitler as an anti-communist, the peace movement, all opposed the war.

• Before Pearl harbor, FDR used lend-lease to provide support for the war effort.

• FDR was criticized both for being a “globalist” and for not saving the Jews of Europe.

The 1940s - The “Honeymoon” Years

• In the aftermath of the Holocaust, Bess Myerson, a 21-year old girl from the Bronx became the only Jewish Miss America. She was called “the most famous pretty girl since Queen Esther“ in the Jewish community.

• In 1947, the book “Gentleman’s Agreement,” an exploration of American anti-Semitism, sells 1.6 million copies.

• In 1947, a film based on the book and starring Gregory Peck, is released.

HUAC and the “Red Scare”• July 29, 1946, The Hollywood Reporter,

publishes "A Vote For Joe Stalin."

• HUAC hearings include testimony by Walt Disney and Ronald Reagan

• Hollywood 10 - 6 of the 10 writers cited are Jews: John Howard Lawson, Alvah Bessie, Herbert Biberman, Lester Cole, Albert Maltzand Samuel Ornitz

• Others blacklisted – Stella Adler, Lee J. Cobb, Edward G. Robinson, Sam Jaffe, etc.

Milton Berle – Mr. Television

• The Texaco Star Theater premiered on June 8, 1948. Berle was originally one of several hosts on a revolving schedule. He was soon named the permanent host.

• Sales of television sets doubled after the show began.

• As the first super-star of the new medium, he was nicknamed “Mr. Television.”

• Some theaters, restaurants and businesses would shut down during the show.

The Rocking Fifties• Phil Chess (born Fiszel Czyz) of Chess Records,

shown here with Muddy Waters, Little Walter and Bo Diddley, is believed to have been the inspiration behind Chuck Berry’s Maybelline.

• While Phil and his brother Leonard (Lejzor)were recording African-American artists, Alan Freed was playing those records.

• The Brill Building in New York was the home of the most influential song-writers including: Leiber and Stoller, Burt Bacharach, Neil Diamond, Carol King, Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman and Neil Sedaka.

Protestors and Rebels• Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

crossing the bridge to Selma in 1965 alongside Rev. Ralph Abernathy, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph Bunche, and Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth.

• In 1963, Betty Friedan authors The Feminine Mystique sparking the women’s equality movement. In 1970, she led the Woman’s March for Equality.

• Abbie Hoffman disrupting the NY Stock Exchange in 1967 by throwing down dollar bills. Hoffman and Jerry Rubin were leaders of the anti-war movement.

The 1967 War and “Free Soviet Jewry”The 1960s saw a huge change in Americans going to live in Israel. From 1952-1960, some 1550 Americans immigrated. From 1961-1971, that number jumped to 18,600. From 1972-1979 the number was 21,000.

Israel’s victory in the Six Day War changed the perception “from vulnerability to invincibility.” (Washington Institute, Consequences of the 1967 War)

In 1965, the National Eternal Light Vigil was the first large demonstration on behalf of Soviet Jewry. In 1968, Gerald Ford introduced the first amendment in support of Soviet Jewry. Protests, demonstrations and negotiations (Helsinki) would continue until the release of 190,000 Soviet Jews in 1990,

The New Conservatives

• The Neo-Conservative or Neo-Con movement grew out of a rejection of the pacifism of the 1960s.

• The movement advocated for an interventionist policy of peace through strength.

• Key advocates included Paul Wolfowitz, Elliot Abrams, and Richard Perle, all of whom served in George W. Bush administration.

• Prof. Leo Strauss is credited providing the academic framework at the University of Chicago.

• Some of the media figures: David Frum, Charles Krauthammer, Norman Podhoretz.

Summary – Jews In America

• Jews have been in America for longer than most people know. Jacob Barsimson, Asser Levy, and Haym Saloman are largely ignored.

• We contributed to the American story, our words are emblazoned on the very symbol of America.

• We have been a study in contrasts: rich and poor, liberal and conservative. And we have been loved and hated in this land.

• What does this story mean to you?