Opening England
Menashe ben Israel (Manoel Dias Soeiro, 1604 -1657), whose family fled Portugal after the Lisbon auto-de-fe of 1603, was raised in Amsterdam where he received a full Jewish education and…
A History of Religious Freedom in North America
On September 12, 1695, the small Jewish community of what would become New York City, petitioned Governor Thomas Dongan for the right to exercise their religion in public. Because of the…
The First Jew in the Colonies
When does American Jewish history begin? Some would say that it begins in 1492, when Columbus set sail on his historic voyage accompanied by at least one known Jewish crew member (Luis de…
The Jews of Charles Dickens
As has been frequently reported, anti-Semitism is on the rise. Beyond strengthening our own Jewish identities, what can we do? There are often simple, non-threatening actions that can…
The Trouble with Casual Blasphemy
On February 23, 1658, Jacob Lumbrozo was brought before a judge in the colony of Maryland and tried for blasphemy. In a world such as ours today, it is hard to imagine someone being taken…