Judaism & America’s Founding Fathers

Jerusalem Post ^ | July 2010 | Eli Kavon

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Although Jews comprised a small part of the population of colonial America, the country’s Founding Fathers realized the importance of freedom of worship for even this small minority. George Washington’s 1790 letter to the Touro Synagogue in Rhode Island affirms the American commitment that bigotry would have no place in the US and that Jews would not be a tolerated minority but would “possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship.”

That commitment has withstood the test of time.

While American Jews have always admired the nation’s Founding Fathers for their genius and vision, they tend to ignore that these great men had little respect for Judaism as a faith.

America’s second president called the Jews “the most glorious nation that ever inhabited the earth.

Adams, challenging the anti-Semitism of French Enlightenment luminaries like Voltaire, argued that Jews “have influenced the affairs of mankind more and happily than any other nation, ancient or modern.”

God, Adams exclaimed in a letter of 1809, had “ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing nations.”

Adams, in the reality of his life and as a leader of the Federalist Party, knew few Jews and had no Jewish friends. Jews, indeed, supported Adam’s political nemesis Thomas Jefferson.

What was Adams’ point of reference for understanding the Jewish contribution to civilization? The answer to this question comes in another letter that Adams wrote to an American-Jewish admirer in 1819. In the letter, Adams endorses the return of the Jews to their homeland in Israel. This proto-Zionist impulse sounds wonderful on the surface – but then Adams explains the reason for it:

“Once Jews return to the Land of Israel, they will “wear away some of the asperities and peculiarities of their character and possibly in time become liberal Unitarian Christians.”

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Once Jews return to the Land of Israel… - John Adams

I found this after doing research on how early Americans viewed the future of Israel…Also, Antisemitism among Protestant & Catholic Europeans…

[ansel12]

“”””Although Jews comprised a small part of the population of colonial America””””

Infinitesimal.

[Cronos]

Antisemitism varied due to history. For example, Bulgaria had no antisemitism as Jews were not used as the middle men or money lenders

[Fai Mao]

““Once Jews return to the Land of Israel, they will “wear away some of the asperities and peculiarities of their character and possibly in time become liberal Unitarian Christians.””

Wanting more people to become Christians is not bigotry. Just as Jews praying for Gentiles to convert to Judaism is not bigotry. Adam’s was not advocating forced conversions.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Wanting more people to become Christians is not bigotry. Just as Jews praying for Gentiles to convert to Judaism is not bigotry. Adam’s was not advocating forced conversions.

The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli publication. They obviously take issue with the notion of needing to be proselytized to, even if not by force.

John Adams also alluded to some condescending stereotypes in his statement that have haunted Jewish existence in the West for centuries. What I don’t understand however, is this notion of becoming a “Unitarian” Christian. Did he believe even Jewish converts would reject the Trinity? Was Adams not a Trinitarian himself? Maybe he leaned toward some Deistic tenets, at least at this juncture in his life…

[Fai Mao]

I think the term “Unitarian” in this context means general or no specific sect of Christianity.

At least that is how I read it.

[ConservativeMind]

One Jew was particularly key to America:

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/5175340/jewish/Haym-Salomon-The-Man-Who-Financed-the-American-Revolution.htm

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Maybe! Well Enlightenment impulses did influence the thinking and religiosity a lot of people of the time, especially the elites. And it was as it still is, common to go through evolutions and phases in one’s spiritual life. Ben Franklin was notably the most secular, but by the end of his life may have exceeded his peers in his faith!

[jjotto]

Adams was a Unitarian, but in those days it was Christian, unlike the flakes today.

[Ezekiel]

Well, it's a 15 YO article but it's history, and I'd recently run a fun KJV search of "jew" before seeing it.

299 verses with "jew", including those residing within words. The first four verses in the results contain 8 jews:

Gen 24:53 And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things.

Ex 3:22 But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.

Ex 11:2 Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.

Ex 12:35 And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment:

"jewels of silver [☽ or ☾], and jewels of gold [☉]"

Judaism & America’s Founding Fathers

eclipse = transcend, and as timeanddate informs:

"An Eclipse Never Comes Alone!"

(And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah)

Now that was really thinking ahead, because it was Rebekah who produced the world's first Purim costume -- Esau's Sunday Best!

😉

[Fai Mao]

I just think he was trying to avoid words like the lower case catholic

[BatGuano]

Robert Morris, an Englishman, is known as, “The Man who Financed the American Revolution.

[ConservativeMind]

“Haym Salomon (also Solomon; April 7, 1740 – January 6, 1785) was a Polish-born American merchant best known for his actions during the American Revolution, where he was the prime financier to the Continental Congress.”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haym_Salomon

Robert Morris and Haym Salomon worked together.

[Mr. Blond]

The word “jew” originated in the 12th century.

[ChessExpert]

Interesting article. I am religious but have to admit that the history of religion involves many distinctions that are mistakenly imbued with great importance.

My mother worked in the Pentagon in WWII. A coworker told her that she was the first Catholic she knew. She was expecting horns.

A pastor told a good story about which Protestant denominations went west on horseback, waited for the stagecoach, or waited for the establishment of railroads.

Of course, Christians are trinitarians and Jews are not. Yet both believe in the Ten Commandments.

However, it seems that people will confuse accidents of history, and poorly understood differences in culture, with nationality, race, or religion.

As an economic conservative, I am disappointed with leftist believers. Their economic views are simply mistaken. Unfortunately, when members of the religious left have to choose, I think most choose socialism or LGBQT+ over faith.

[Verginius Rufus]

I don't know what is the earliest occurrence of the English word "Jew"--it derives from the Latin Judaeus (Greek Ioudaios). Maybe it's 12th century--but we don't have a lot of surviving texts from that period in Middle English.

I think it's found in the Septuagint only in the post-exilic books like Esther (e.g. 3.10), I Maccabees (e.g. 8.20), or II Maccabees (e.g. 1.1).

In the earlier books of the Bible they refer to Israel, to the Israelites, or to a particular tribe. Before the Babylonian captivity there are references to the kings of Judah but I don't think the term "Jew" is used in II Kings or II Chronicles.

I don't think you can always rely on an English translation because they may insert the word Jew as understood even if it isn't in the original text. I don't read Hebrew so haven't tried to check the Hebrew text.

[Verginius Rufus]

There were Catholics in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California before there were any Protestants there—Spaniards or descendants of Spaniards, and their Indian converts.

[Mr. Blond]

Modern Hebrew is also a recently reconstructed language.

[jjotto]

I think first use of Jew/Yehudi to mean Hebrew instead of just a Tribe is in Jeremiah 34.

[Verginius Rufus]

Thanks. The Septuagint version of Jeremiah 34 seems to differ quite a bit from the Hebrew version. It mentions a number of names (king of Idoumaia, king of Moab, etc.) that are not in the English translation which I assume is based on the Hebrew text.

I'm wondering if at first Judaei and Ioudaioi would have had a geographical sense, all inhabitants of Judaea, and only later been restricted to adherents of the Jewish faith? In early Christian writings it's clearly a religious label, but I'm wondering if pagan Romans would have been careful in how they used the term. Of course there were Jews in Rome and in various provinces of the Roman Empire even before the destruction of Jerusalem. Tacitus in Histories Book 5 seems to use Judaei as a religious/ethnic term in his unfriendly and laughably ignorant discussion of the Jews. That was written a good deal after the destruction of Jerusalem.