A Jump Across Many Centuries I. Background a. Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, from Portugal in 1496 b. Given a choice to become Christians or leave c. Three types of reactions i. Many left ii. Some sincerely converted to Christianity iii. Some confirmed outwardly to Christianity but in their hearts stayed true to Judaism 1. These people were called crypto jews 2. Portuguese crypto jews are the ancestors of the first jews to settle in north America II. Some matters of Secular History d. Colombus 1492 in North America gave a “big boost” to European colonialism, an attempy to bring areas outside of Europe under the dominance of European countries e. Spain, Portugal became important colonial powers by 1550- “the only game in town” f. In the 1494 treaty of Torsedillas they divided the entire world outside of Europe among themselves g. North and South America fell to Spain, except for the Eastern part (today Brazil) that fell to Portugal. iv. 1530’s Portuguese settlers arrived there, extablishing Olinda h. in 1548, Portuguese settlers founded Reafe, today the capital of the Brazilian province Pernambuco i. over the years, Portuguese crypto jews, hoping for religious freedom, settled in pernambuco j. England, Holland, and france, became involved in colonial activities in the late 16th and 17th centuries v. Jamestown VA: founded by the London Company in 1607 as the 1st permanent and successful English colony in north America vi. Quebec: founded in 1608 by Samuel de champlain as a French colony vii. New netherland k. In 1609, Henry Hudson sailed up the river bearing his name (Hudson river). He was working for the dutch east india company, the dutch had claimed this area l. The dutch- people from Holland/Netherlands- 1624 viii. 1st permanent dutch settlement; fort orange- 1624, on site of modern day Albany ny ix. fort Amsterdam: founded in 1625 on manhattan island, the purchase of the latter from manhatttan Indians was finalized in 1626 x. fort Amsterdam -> new Amsterdam -> new york city xi. the colony was taken by England in 1664 and then renamed NY III. Back to the Background m. Religious freedom, at the time, practically unheard of in most European countries xii. Except the Netherlands n. 1581 , when dutch declared independence from spain, religious tolerance, including Judaism was practiced there xiii. ex. England didn’t object to the pilgrims plan to settle in the English colony Virginia and practice their religion there xiv. pilgrims spent time in Holland o. pilgrims from Portugal to pernambuco p. north America: xv. recall: 1548, portuguese had founded reafe xvi. over the years, some crypto jews left for reafe xvii. in 1630 holland captured reafe; a jew community developed under dutch rule xviii. 24 years later, (1654) the Portuguese retook reafe, this led to the arrical of jews in north America IV. North America: even in an area to become part of the US q. 3 periods xix. 1. A smaller group of jews (1654-1825) xx. 2. Immigration of German Jews (1825-1880) xxi. immigration of east European jews (1880-1921) r. a small group of jews to 1654-1825) xxii. following the Portuguese retaking of reafe, the jews living there were expelled xxiii. some of the jews went to Holland, others to the capital of the dutch colony new Amsterdam. They dounded in 1654 the first jew community in north America xxiv. peter Stuyvesant (1592-1672 “peg leg”)- director general of new netherland (1647-1664) wanted them to leave xxv. 1655 appeal to the dutch west indies company was decided in favor of the jews; they were allowed to stay as long as they could “Take care of their own” xxvi. 1st jew community (shearith Israel which meant “remnant of Israel”) which today is located in 8 west 70th st in nyc xxvii. 2nd jew community in north America 3. 1658 jews with spanish/Portuguese roots founded the second north American jew community in Newport ri 4. they most likely came from curaco, an island north of venezuelam since 1634 goverened by the dutch 5. the oldest, still existing, synagogue in north America was dedicated by the Newport community in 1763 6. synagogue: derived from a greek word meaning “assembly” denotes a jew house of worship 7. the Newport synagogue is known as the tauro synagogue 8. named after the tauro family. Isaac was a spiritual leader of the Newport congregation 9. the jew community in ny had dedicated a synagogue earlier, in 1730, located on mill street in lower manhattan- however it doesn’t exist anymore xxviii. George Washington and Newport 10. Washington visited Newport in march 1781 (his 3rd visit) to conference with French general Rochambeau (1779) 11. October 1781, the combined forces of Washington and rochambeau forced british general Cornwallis to surrender at yorktown, ending the revolutionary war 12. Washington came to Newport again in 1790, this time as president. He visited tauro synagogue 13. Mosese seixas (Warden of synagogue) presented a formal address; washington’s written reply is an important document concerning religious liberty a. “for happily the government of the us which gives to higotry 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” 14. the situation arrived around 1800; in addition to the 1st two jewish communities in nyc and Newport, synagouges existed in savannah Georgia (1733), Charleston sc (1741). Philadelphia pa (1745), Richmond va (1789) s. German immigrants: bringing the number of jews up to 250,000 (1825-1880) xxix. Following the 1815 defeat of napolian, jews were made once again made second class citizens in many parts of Europe xxx. In consequence: many jews left for the us xxxi. Reform Judaism has its roots among the german jews immigrating during this period xxxii. They also participated in the US westward expansion t. east European immigrants boosting the number of jews even further to 2,000,000 (1880-1921) xxxiii. During the 1880’s and later, there were cruel persecutions of jews in the areas of eastern Europe (pogroms) many jews left for the US xxxiv. Most of the east European immigrants were strictly orthodox u. the us stems the flood of immigtants (1920s) Jewish immigration comes to a near standstill xxxv. this wave of immigrants came to a hault in the early 1920’s because congress enacted immigrant quota legislation xxxvi. emergency quota act (1921) immigrants from various countries was limited to 3%of the number of persons from a particular nationality in the US in 1910 xxxvii. national origins quota act (1924) immigrants from European countries was further reduced to 2% of the number of persons from a particular nationality in the US in 1890 xxxviii. further restrictions were enacted in 1929 xxxix. results countries with a population well represented in the US (northern/western Europe) got more “slots” for additional immigrants than countries poorly represented (southern eastern) v. the chief denomination of US Judaism xl. among observant US jews, 3 major groups are to be distinguished, orthodox or traditional, reform/liberal, and conservative xli. they differ from origin, practices, and beliefs

The Torah, the Jew Bible, and other writings I. The Torah: first 5 books of the Jewish Holy Scriptures a. Torah: Hebrew for “teaching” first 5 books of the Jew bible (also of the Christian old testament) b. Genesis: (gn) origin c. Exodus: (ex) “way out” d. Levicticus: (lv) levi- one of the 12 jew tribes; moses and his brother aaron belonged to it i. Descendants of aaron were priests; the tribes other male members also had to perform temple functions ii. The book contains many laws concerning temple services, is, therefore, particularly significant for the levi tribe e. Numbers (nm): begins with cencus of Jew people f. Deuteronomy: (Dt) “deutros” = second “nomos”=law iii. Second book, heavily relies on the law iv. Repetitch reinforcement of many law contained in the other 4 torah books
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