The Buttonwood Jews
On the 17th of May, 1792, 24 businessmen met under a buttonwood (sycamore) tree and made an agreement to deal only with one another and to set a .25% commission rate on all…
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…
Lancaster Jews
Many people do not realize that Lancaster, Pennsylvania, home to the famous Amish community, was one of the few active Jewish communities during the colonial era and has the fourth oldest…
The Buttonwood Jews
On the 17th of May, 1792, 24 businessmen met under a buttonwood (sycamore) tree and made an agreement to deal only with one another and to set a .25% commission rate on all transactions.…
The Occident
In honor of World Press Freedom Day, May 3rd as declared by the United Nations General Assembly, Jewish Treats takes a quick glance at the first* general Jewish periodical in the United…
Insights into the American Revolution
The American Revolution was a time of great upheaval for the American colonists. Nearly everyone was affected, no matter whether they supported or opposed the revolution. The Jewish…
Evacuation Day
In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln called upon the American people to celebrate a day of Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November. In New York, however, there was already a holiday…
Jonas Phillips: Living in the Revolution
A few weeks after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the BriTisha blockade intercepted a communication from Jonas Phillips to a relative on the Dutch Island of St.…
Fronting the Frontiersman
One of the iconic figures of the American frontier was Daniel Boone, a frontiersman often pictured with a racoon-skin hat. A fact many do not know about Daniel Boone is that some of his…
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…