-Caveat Lector-
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2001 20:23:35 +0200
From: Yair Davidi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Bunker Hill Jews
From Esther:
Since this subject has been discussed a lot lately, I thought
it would be good to forward ths article. It gives me a chill to
read it. I am glad to have information like this to give my
offspring the correct American history.This is informational
about Jews in American from early times.Many have intermarried
with other colonial families and people with early American
heritage have Jewish heritage as well.
If it wasn't for Haym Solomon we may not have even won the
Revolutionary War. In fact from what I know, this country was
severely in debt to him after the war and he forgave many of the
debts.
--Esther
February 08, 2001
Revolutionary Jews and the Bunker Hill bridge
By Joseph L. Andrews
There has been much controversy recently about naming the Leonard
P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge over the Charles River between Boston
and Charlestown, as part of the " Big Dig. " Reports surfaced of
anti-Semitism from a small group of Charlestown residents, one of
whom was quoted as saying, " I don't see the relationship between
a bridge in this area and a Jewish fellow ... there were no Jews
at Bunker Hill. " A brief review of the role of the Jews in the
Revolutionary era should add some needed historical perspective.
It has been a seldom told tale.
The first group of Jews to settle in North America were 23
refugees from Brazil in 1654. They were escaping persecution that
resulted when Portugal took over Brazil from Holland. They
settled in New Amsterdam (later New York). They were descendents
of Sephardic (Spanish) Jews who had been expelled from Spain in
1492. Like their forebears, who had been denied basic human
rights for over 1,600 years in their wanderings between the
restrictive ghettos of Europe, the Jews who landed in the small
Dutch town of New Amsterdam had little freedom. They were
forbidden by law to own land, worship in public, hold public
office, vote, travel, serve in the military and enter most
professions.
After the British recaptured New York 10 years later, many of
these restrictions stayed in place in various colonies.
Especially onerous to religious Jews were laws prohibiting voting
and office holding unless they swore oaths " as Christians. " In
Puritan Massachusetts in the 1600s and 1700s these restrictions
were more severe than most colonies. Puritans fled England for
religious liberty, but did not grant it to others. They viewed
Jews mainly as targets for conversion. The first professor of
Hebrew at Harvard University was an Italian Jew named Judah
Moniz, who in 1722 was persuaded to convert to Christianity as a
necessary qualification to teach at Harvard.
Because of these objectionable religious restrictions, all but a
handful of early Jewish American settlers avoided Boston. They
clustered instead in six cities along the Eastern seaboard:
Newport, New York, Philadelphia, Charleston, Atlanta and
Savannah.
These cities had the framework for Jewish communities: observant
families, synagogues, rabbis, burial and benevolent societies.
But there were still precious few Jews in America. At the time of
the Revolution it is estimated that only 2,500 out 2.5 million
Americans (or 0.1 percent) were Jewish.
Let me tell you about a few. Haym Salomon was a Polish immigrant
who settled in New York about 1773. There he joined the patriotic
cause and became active in the Sons of Liberty. He was captured
by the British, accused of spying for the patriots and sentenced
to hang. He escaped and fled with his young family to
Philadelphia. There he prospered as an import-export broker.
He volunteered his services to raise money for the insolvent
Continental Congress, which was often so broke that it could not
pay American soldiers. Relying only on his honest reputation and
his good word, he was able to raise money by selling bills of
exchange from France and Spain, so the troops could be paid and
desertions avoided. When he died, Haym Solomon was destitute,
having exhausted his private resources for his new country.
Benjamin Nones from Bordeaux, France, came to Philadelphia in
time to fight for the patriots. He was captured by the British in
the siege of Charlestown (South Carolina, that is) and not
released until the battle of Yorktown. He later became a major in
the Pennsylvania Militia. In 1800 he was involved in a political
feud and was subjected to a personal anti-Semitic attack in a
Philadelphia paper. He replied with a ringing attack against
anti-Semitism: " But I am a Jew. I am so - and so were Abraham
and Isaac and Moses and the prophets, and so too were Christ and
his apostles. I feel no disgrace in ranking with such society may
be subject to the illiberal buffoonery of such men as your
correspondents. "
There were hundreds of other Jewish soldiers and sailors who
fought in the Revolution and patriots who supported it. There was
Phillip Russell, a surgeon at Valley Forge; Col. David Franks an
aide to George Washington; a " Jew Company, " which fought in
South Carolina; Moses Myers, who fought in Virginia; the Sheftall
family, which fought and were captured in Savannah. In
Manhattan's Chatham Square cemetery, 22 Revolutionary Jewish
soldiers lie. Many had sacrificed their lives for their new
country. Just like the approximately 500 Americans who were
killed or wounded during the three British assaults at Bunker
Hill in 1775. (New evidence has surfaced that a Jewish soldier,
Abraham Solomon, participated in the Battle of Bunker Hill as a
member of Colonel John Glover's 21st Regiment from Gloucester.)
In 1790, seven years after the Revolution was over, President
George Washington delivered a speech to the Synagogue in Newport,
R.I. He stated that " happily the government of the United States
... gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance. "
After 2,000 years of wandering, Jews - and all other Americans -
were at last guaranteed religious freedom.
There is an important footnote to the " What have Jews got to do
with Bunker Hill? " question. In 1825 at the 50th anniversary of
the Battle of Bunker Hill, a cornerstone was laid for a proposed
monument. But because funding dwindled, the monument was
uncompleted 14 years later. Boston industrialist Amos Lawrence
offered $10,000, if the remaining funds could be raised. There
were no backers until a Jewish philanthropist from New Orleans,
Judah Touro, a man born one day before the Battle of Bunker Hill,
broke the impasse by contributing $10,000. The inscription at the
base of the monument recognizes both the differences and shared
humanity and aims of Lawrence and Touro: " Christian and Jew,
they carry out one plan. For though of different faith, each is
in heart a man. "
Hopefully, the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge will honor
both the men who gave their lives at Bunker Hill in 1775 and
Lenny Zakim, who spent his life building trust by bridging the
communities of Greater Boston.
Joseph L. Andrews, M.D., of Concord, is the author of "
Revolutionary Boston, Lexington and Concord: The Shots Heard
Round the World! " He is currently at work writing a book,
tentatively titled, " Moses and Miriam in America: Revolutionary
Jews Fight for Freedom and Human Rights. " For the sake of full
disclosure, he states proudly that he is the great-great-great
grandson of both Haym Salomon and Benjamin Nones.
> From: Steven Collins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Yair,
>
> You mention that the determination of Britain to fight won
> the war. I agree. It really was, as Churchill said: "Their
> finest hour." Ephraim is always more engaged with the nations
> of the world while Manasseh tends to be isolationist. Ephraim
> "held the fort" in WW-II until Manasseh woke up to the danger
> and joined the war on Ephraim's side.
>
> History often repeats itself as Ecclesiastes 1:9 observes.
> Parthia (Ephraim) got involved in many wars against the
> Seleucid Greeks and Romans, and the tide was often turned
> when the Scythians (Manasseh) intervened to help their
> Parthian brothers. That pattern was repeated in WW-II.
>
>Shalom!
>
>Steve
>
>PS. I rejoice that you will soon have a new PM.
http://www.geocities.com/hiberi
=================================================================
Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
*Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
=================================================================
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
