by Lawrence Bush on December 14, 2011
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” On this date in 1791, this First Amendment and nine other amendments to the U.S. Constitution took effect following ratification by the legislature of Virginia. It would not be until 1925, however, that the Supreme Court established that the Bill of Rights applied not only to the federal government but to all state and local governments. Jewish organizations, notably the American Jewish Congress, played a leading role in pursuing First Amendment cases, especially regarding church-state separation, in the 1950s and ’60s. These cases helped establish a broad protective umbrella over the right of religious minorities, including atheists and the non-religious, not to have to confront religious activities and symbols in the public sphere. What Thomas Jefferson called in 1802 “the wall of separation between church and state” has very much served to separate American Jews from the forces of political reaction and to preserve Jewish liberalism despite decades of courtship by the religious right.
“The demise of the American Jewish Congress should be an occasion for . . . remembering and reconnecting with the oft-forgotten ideals and values that it helped introduce into Jewish communal life. Who will teach us how to say what we need to say and how to do what we need to do?” —Jerome A. Chanes
by Lawrence Bush on September 14, 2011
The inscribed cornerstone of Ararat — “a City of Refuge for the Jews, founded by Mordecai M. Noah . . . ” — was dedicated in Buffalo, New York on this date in 1825, in an elaborate ceremony attended by thousands of Christians and a few Jews. Mordecai Manuel Noah was a playwright, newspaper man, diplomat and publicist, the son of a Revolutionary War hero and the first native-born American Jew to achieve a national reputation. Ararat was to be built on the Grand Island on the Niagara River (near the head of the Erie Canal), to serve as a new homeland for Jews. It was named for the mountain on which, the Bible says, Noah’s Ark was safely ensconced after the Flood. America was caught up in the Second Great Awakening in the 1820s, an Evangelical movement that included calls for the restoration of Jews to Palestine, and Noah’s idea of a temporary Jewish refuge had significant religious appeal — except for Jews, who rejected the plan out of hand and treated Noah as a presumptuous madman or con artist. The settlement attracted no settlers, and by the end of the year Noah was advising friends against investing in it. Despite the fiasco, he remained a prominent spokesperson for American Jews until his death in 1851.
“[T]his asylum is temporary and provisionary. The Jews never should and never will relinquish the just hope of regaining possession of their ancient heritage . . .” —Mordecai M. Noah
by Lawrence Bush on July 3, 2011
The Declaration of Independence, published on this date in 1776, was copied and sent to Amsterdam via the Dutch Caribbean Island of St. Eustatius, where Jewish merchants and arms traders were a significant presence. The British intercepted the document at sea, and an accompanying letter written in Hebrew script, which was assumed to be a secret code, was sent to London for deciphering. (Whether the letter was in Ladino or Yiddish is unclear.) Once the colonies were at war with Great Britain, some of the Jewish merchants of St. Eustatius converted their ships into privateers and harassed British warships, smuggled weapons and gunpowder to the colonies, and helped provoke hostilities between Great Britain and Holland, which became a major distraction for the British Navy. In 1781, Admiral George Bydges Rodney razed the synagogue of St. Eustatius and exiled the entire male Jewish population from the island, breaking up some hundred families. Within nine months, however, the American Revolution was won. Had Admiral Rodney not spent his days plundering and persecuting the citizens of St. Eustatius, and instead used his naval power to pursue the French fleet of twenty-eight ships that ultimately helped block aid to the British troops at Yorktown, Virginia, the outcome of the war might have been different.
“From the very outset of American resistance to British rule, this speck of an island played a pivotal role in providing the means by which a ragged assembly of American patriots ultimately won victory over a well-established and well-equipped army. The success of the Revolution can be attributed in large measure to the activity of the traders of the tiny island of St. Eustatius.” —Samuel Kurinsky, Hebrew History Federation
by Lawrence Bush on June 30, 2011
Jacob Wilbusky, a 16-year-old cowboy from Texas, was the first of Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders killed in action in Cuba on this date in 1898 during the Spanish-American War. The following year, during his run for the New York governorship, Roosevelt would be endorsed by “Jewish Members of the Republican State Committee,” whose Yiddish handbills played upon Jewish resentments towards Spain for its centuries of Inquisitorial persecution. The Committee urged that “Every vote for the COLONEL OF THE ROUGH RIDERS is approval of McKinley and the War. Every vote for Roosevelt’s opponent . . . is a vote for Spain. . . . Vote for Theodore Roosevelt. Vote to express your approval of Spain’s defeat.” This aggressive, imperialistic war did not impress the Jews much, however: Roosevelt failed to carry the Jewish Lower East Side and lost New York City by 60,000, even while winning the gubernatorial election.
“WHO TAKES REVENGE FOR US? . . . Every respectable citizen, every good American and every true Jew, must and will vote for the Republican gubernatorial candidate — Theodore Roosevelt.” —Yiddish flyer
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” On this date in 1791, this First Amendment and nine other amendments to the U.S. Constitution took effect following ratification by the legislature of Virginia. It would not be until 1925, however, that the Supreme Court established that the Bill of Rights applied not only to the federal government but to all state and local governments. Jewish organizations, notably the American Jewish Congress, played a leading role in pursuing First Amendment cases, especially regarding church-state separation, in the 1950s and ’60s. These cases helped establish a broad protective umbrella over the right of religious minorities, including atheists and the non-religious, not to have to confront religious activities and symbols in the public sphere. What Thomas Jefferson called in 1802 “the wall of separation between church and state” has very much served to separate American Jews from the forces of political reaction and to preserve Jewish liberalism despite decades of courtship by the religious right.
