My group and I chose to view the exhibition about the first Jews that came to the New World. The exhibit which is called “The First Jewish Americans: Freedom and Culture in the New World” detail how the first Jews were prohibited to practice their religion. This goes back to 1492 in Spain where the Spanish disallowed the Jews from worshipping. This continued even when they came to the New World as over 120 members were burned at the stake by the Inquisition in Mexico for practicing.  The first memory of Jews in the U.S. were 23 Jews who were fleeing the Portuguese inquisition in Greece who arrived in New York City. Originally, they were not welcome however they soon won their appeal and were permitted to stay and practice in New York. This soon continued to Philadelphia and Charleston. The U.S eventually became the first place where the Jews were allowed to become citizens and also openly practice their religion.

The first artifact that shows how the Jewish people struggled is a burned Torah scroll. The Torah is regarded as the Jewish holy book and is held sacred by its people. It is the equivalent of the Bible or the Quran. The scroll was burned during the Revolutionary War in New York City. It was done by two British soldiers during an attack on Kips Bay in 1776. They not only burned the Torah but also vandalized the synagogue. The second artifact is a letter from Major Benjamin Nones to the Editor of the Aurora. In the letter, he proudly stated that he was a republican and a Jew. This was during the presidential election campaign. He was slandered for this as Jews were still a minority. This showed that even Jews in power still faced discrimination because of their faith. The last article is a letter from the Hebrew Congregation of Savannah to the President of The United States. This letter was written to show their gratitude to Washington as his presidency “dispelled a cloud of bigotry and superstition” over Jews. This was the beginning of the Jews finally being accepted into American society.