"Jews and Gentiles in Early America offers a uniquely detailed picture of Jewish life from the mid-seventeenth century through the opening decades of the new republic." "Pencak approaches his topic from the perspective of early American, rather than strictly Jewish, history. Rich in colorful narrative and animated with scenes of early American life, Jews and Gentiles in Early America tells the story of the five communities - New York, Newport, Charleston, Savannah, and Philadelphia - where most of colonial America's small Jewish population lived."--BOOK JACKET.

The first synagogue in colonial America was built in New York City in 1730 on land that was purchased for £100 plus a loaf of sugar and one pound of Bohea tea. The purchase of this land was especially noteworthy because until this time, the Jews had only been permitted to buy land for use as a cemetery. However, by the time the Revolutionary War began, the Jewish religious center had become fairly large. Early in their stay in New Amsterdam and New York, many Jews considered themselves to be transients. Therefore, they were not interested in voting, holding office or equal rights. However, as the 18th century came to a close, Jews were able to accumulate large estates, and they recognized that they needed citizenship. After a brief overview of the Jews' migrations around Europe, the West Indies and the North and South American continents, this book describes the hardships faced by the Jewish people, beginning with New Amsterdam and New York and continuing with discussions of their experiences in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, New England, and in the South. Subsequent chapters discuss anti-Semitism, slavery and the Jews' transformation from immigrant status to American citizen.

Explores the meaning of Jewishness in light of the increasing assimilation of America's Jews and suggests ways to preserve Jewish identity.

Examines the history of colonial New England through the lens of its first settlers Judeocentric worldview

This volume offers new insights on Jewish-Gentile relations and the evolution of belief in the early Jesus movement, suggesting that the New Testament reflects the early stages of a Gentile challenge to the authority and legitimacy of the descendants of Jesus' disciples and first followers as the exclusive guardians and interpreters of his legacy.

Here is a virtually complete list of persons identifiable as Jews in America by 1800, the result of a thorough search of manuscript materials and published literature for the names of Jews who lived in America (including Canada up to 1783) during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. No other study provides comparable information for such an ethnic group in this country. Each entry in this dictionary is accompanied by birth and death dates and places and other biographical data so far as they are available. The biographies vary from two lines recording the birth of an unnamed stillborn child or the presence of a transient in New York City to half-column summaries of the careers of well-known persons. Included are converts to Christianity and, in some instances, their children. Persons whose names or associations have resulted in their being incorporated into earlier lists of "Jews" are noted also, with an attempt to ascertain their identity. Especially noteworthy is the small number of Jews in America during the two centuries before 1800. Only about 4,000 Jews, of whom 1,500 were native-born, have been identified in this dictionary—and not all of these positively. Perhaps another 800 have been omitted, Rosenbloom points out, because their names are not included in extant records. Even so, it would appear that the percentage of Jews in the total colonial population (less than three million in 1783) was infinitesimal. Students of the American colonial period will find this book a useful tool for ascertaining the national origins of American Jews, their occupations, their part in the Revolution, their places of settlement, and other historical and sociological data.

The reminiscences of 100 people combine to create a portrait of Jewish-American life.

The New England Puritans fascination with the legacy of the Jewish religion has been well documented, but their interactions with actual Jews have escaped sustained historical attention. 'New Israel/New England' tells the story of the Sephardic merchants who traded and sojourned in Boston and Newport between the mid-seventeenth century and the era of the American Revolution. It also explores the complex and often contradictory meanings that the Puritans attached to Judaism and the fraught attitudes that they bore toward the Jews as a people. More often than not, Michael Hoberman shows, Puritans thought and wrote about Jews in order to resolve their own theological and cultural dilemmas. A number of prominent New Englanders, including Roger Williams, Increase Mather, Samuel Sewall, Benjamin Colman, Cotton Mather, Jonathan Edwards, and Ezra Stiles, wrote extensively about post-biblical Jews, in some cases drawing on their own personal acquaintance with Jewish contemporaries. Among the intriguing episodes that Hoberman investigates is the recruitment and conversion of Harvard s first permanent instructor of Hebrew, the Jewish-born Judah Monis. Later chapters describe the ecumenical friendship between Newport minister Ezra Stiles and Haim Carigal, an itinerant rabbi from Palestine, as well as the life and career of Moses Michael Hays, the prominent freemason who was Boston s first permanently established Jewish businessman, a founder of its insurance industry, an early sponsor of the Bank of Massachusetts, and a personal friend of Paul Revere.