The Charleston Synagogue(s)
Charleston, South Carolina is home to one of the oldest Jewish communities in the United States. The 1669 charter for the Carolina Colony explicitly included liberty of conscious for…
The Charleston Synagogue(s)
Charleston, South Carolina is home to one of the oldest Jewish communities in the United States. The 1669 charter for the Carolina Colony explicitly included liberty of conscious for…
America’s First Synagogue
In 1656, Shearith Israel, the first synagogue was established in the territory that came to be known as the United States. The synagogue, also known as the Spanish and Portuguese…
Taking a Stand in North Carolina
In honor of North Carolina’s ratification of the United States Constitution on November 21, 1789, making it the 12th state of the Union, today’s Jewish Treat presents Jacob Henry, a proud…
The Indigo Guy of South Carolina
The fact that the constitution of the colony of Carolina (later North Carolina and South Carolina), which was authored by the philosopher John Locke, included a call for the freedom of…
America’s First Synagogue
In 1656, Shearith Israel, became the first synagogue that was established in the territory that came to be known as the United States. The synagogue, also known as the Spanish and…
Do Your Research
Before you travel to a city with a sizable Jewish population, especially one with a rich Jewish history like Charleston, SC, research its history and its synagogues to better appreciate…
Virginia is for Lovers… of Israel
While cities like Charleston, Philadelphia and New York contained Jewish communities during the pre-revolutionary period, Virginia, the largest of the colonies, did not. Individual Jews…
A Constitutional Congregation
What does the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania have to do with the oldest synagogue in that state? Congregation Mikveh Israel (Originally Kaal Kadosh Mickve Israel) was founded in the 1740s…
A Jewess in the Revolution
For a Jew to be a landowner, or the owner of an import and export business, or a tavern-keeper, was a rare feat. For a Jew to be all three and a woman who also raised eight children (a…