What happens when you Google “George Washington” and “Jews”? In honor of George Washington’s birthday this Sunday, I decided to find out.
Given that our country was primarily founded on the principle of religious freedom, it should come as no surprise that in 1790, there were approximately 300 Jews living in Newport, Rhode Island. George Washington visited that year and stopped at Touro Synagogue, where Moses Seixas, a first-generation Jewish American, served as warden.
In anticipation of Washington’s visit, Seixas penned a letter to the president on behalf of his fellow Jews, whom he described as “the Children of the Stock of Abraham.” According to the Jewish Virtual Library, “the Jews of Newport looked to the new national government, and particularly to the enlightened president of the United States, to remove the last of the barriers of religious liberty and civil equality confronting American Jewry.”
Washington’s response to Touro Synagogue has been noted for its historic language. Quoting phrases written by Seixas (in bold below), Washington replied, “It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States, which 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.”
Washington continued by quoting words from the Old Testament (in bold): “May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants; while every one shall sit under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.”
Though President’s Day has come and gone, let’s not forget to honor George Washington on his birthday this Sunday, for giving some of the earliest Jewish Americans peace of mind as they settled in their new home. And while we’re at it, let’s thank Moses Seixas for bravely standing up for our people and asking that Washington do the same.
