Jewish Founding Fathers?

Jews have been part of America from the very beginning.

The first American synagogue was New York's Shearith Israel, founded in 1654. Long before the start of the revolutionary war Jewish people supported the idea of American independence. Does that mean that there were Jewish Òfounding fathers?Ó

Well, no, there weren't any Jewish men who were signatories of the Declaration of Independence nor did they serve in the Continental Congress or participate in the creation of the Constitution.

However, there was a sizable Jewish community living in the colonies before and during the American Revolution and some of them did take part in serving the revolution at that crucial time. These were Jewish patriots.

In scanning through web sites I found six examples of Jewish patriots who helped with America's founding. Beginning with The Soldier at Valley Forge.

A soldier (whose name has been lost to history) serving with General Washington's army at Valley Forge, was lighting menorah candles. When Washington asked what that was about, the soldier explained that he was Jewish and lighting the candles commemorated Chanukah and the miraculous victory of his people over an oppressive enemy. As the story goes, Washington was greatly encouraged. Maybe it helped him persevere at that low point of the war.

Mordecai Sheftali was a merchant colonel in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, and was the highest-ranking Jewish officer. For many years, the only "shul" in Savannah was a room in his house. When the British attacked, he provided money for the American cause. He was captured and placed on an English prison ship. In 1782, he helped establish the still-active "Synagogue of the American Revolution," Congregation Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia.

Haym Salomon was a patriotic financier, broker and immigrant from Poland who helped create America's first semi-central bank and advised Alexander Hamilton on the building of America's financial system. As a prime financier of the Revolutionary War, his personal lending provided the equivalent of millions to George Washington in his war effort. He died poor at age 44 of Tuberculosis contracted in a British prison from which he had previously escaped.

Rabbi Gershom Mendes Seixas. Seixas urged his congregation, Shearith Israel, to pray that the English would leave. One congregant said they thought it better to Òdie in the cause of liberty than to live and submit to the impositions of an arrogant government.Ó The synagogue was abandoned, the Torah scrolls saved by Seixas and the congregation fled to Philadelphia, with many enlisting in the Colonial Army.

Jonas Phillips was an indentured servant to a Sephardic Jew. He became a merchant in New York and married a Shearith Israel member with whom he had 21 children. His family abandoned the shul and moved to Philadelphia where he became yet another founder of Mikveh Israel and served in the Militia. He was America's first religious-liberty activist. One of his grandsons was Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court, another was the first Jewish Commodore in the U.S. Navy. His great-grandson was governor of South Carolina.

A rifleman in Philadelphia, Jacob Mordecai, supplied the Continental Army and was a clerk to Washington's Jewish quartermaster. Mordecai married and moved to North Carolina where they were the only Jews for miles. They kept strict kosher and Shabbos observance as he published biblical research. He was chosen as headmaster for the new Warrenton Female Academy. Although non-sectarian, the school stressed character development as well as offering a full range of study equal to any classical male academy of that time.

There is a professor who has made the claim that Alexander Hamilton was actually Jewish. He has even written a book on it. Hamilton Jewish? Hard to know for sure. But that's a conversation for another time.

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