Shearith Israel

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Shearith Israel Synagogue,
inaugurated in 1897

Shearith Israel , often referred to as the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue , is an Orthodox Jewish community in New York City . The Sephardic Community was the first Jewish community in North America. It was founded in 1654 and was the only Jewish community in New York until 1825. Today's synagogue is a classicist building from the late 19th century. The community follows the Sephardic rite of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews.

history

The history of the Jewish community of Shearith Israel is closely linked to the first Sephardic Jewish immigrants in North America, who arrived from Brazil in September 1654 in what was then Nieuw Amsterdam , now New York City. Shearith Israel says it was founded in the same year. As early as 1656, the Jews of Nieuw Amsterdams were given permission to build their own cemetery. The first president of the ward was Luis Moses Gomez .

Shearith Israeli Ward's First Cemetery, 55–57 St. James Pl., New York

Jews only had the right to practice their religion privately, only Christians were allowed to hold public services. However, a map from 1695 shows a synagogue (Jews' synagogue) on Beaver Street, near Mill Street, where apparently semi-public services were held. The building is also said to have housed a mikveh , a ritual bath.

The surviving logs of the Shearith Israel community begin in 1729 and mention older ones dating back to 1706. Land for a synagogue was purchased in 1728 and a synagogue was inaugurated on April 8, 1730 on Mill Street, now William Street - the first in North America. It was rebuilt and rededicated in 1818. In 1834 it was replaced by a new synagogue on Crosby Street, which in turn was replaced in 1860 by a synagogue on 19th Street "up-town". A second preacher was also employed at the same time. The synagogue on the corner of Central Park West and 70th Street, which still exists today, was inaugurated on May 19, 1897. The classicist building by the American-Jewish architect Arnold Brunner is built in the tradition of the Spanish and Portuguese synagogues.

Members

The community was made up of both Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews from an early age . It has around 450 families. Well-known members of the community included Benjamin Mendes Seixas, Ephraim Hart, and Alexander Zuntz, co-founders of the New York Stock Exchange , the poet Emma Lazarus , Alice Davis Menken , a pioneer in social welfare especially for women, and Benjamin Nathan Cardozo , Supreme Court Justice USA .

Web links

Commons : Shearith Israel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Josh Perelman: Jews. In: Dictionary of American History. Volume 4, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 2003, pp. 476-479 , accessed April 2, 2012 .
  2. ↑ a b Our History. Shearit Israel Congregation, accessed April 2, 2012 .
  3. ↑ a b New York. In: Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 2, 2012 .
  4. ^ First Mill Street Synagogue. Shearit Israel Congregation, accessed April 7, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Michael Feldberg: Blessings of freedom. Chapters in American Jewish history . Ed .: KTAV Publishing House. 2002, ISBN 0-88125-756-7 , pp. 72 f. and 106 f . ( limited preview in Google Book search).

Coordinates: 40 ° 46 ′ 29.5 "  N , 73 ° 58 ′ 38.3"  W.