Congregation Shearith Israel Archives
Item
Country
US
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
eng
Contact information: postal address
2 West 70th Street New York, NY 10023
Contact information: phone number
001 212 873 0300
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
info@shearithisrael.org
Title (official language of the state)
Congregation Shearith Israel Archives
Language of title
eng
Creator / accumulator
Congregation Shearith Israel (New York, N.Y.)
Date note
since 1680s
Language(s)
eng
heb
por
Type of material
Textual Material
Graphic Material
Photographic Images
Scope and content
The archives of the congregation Shearith Israel comprise congregational records, documents from affiliated societies and organisations, and papers of some prominent community members. It includes minute books, account books and ledgers, personal and synagogue correspondence, clippings, leaflets, pamphlets, photographs, books, phonograph records, audio tapes, letter books, contracts and wills.
A typewritten catalogue composed in the 1980s and preserved in the Malcolm Stern Papers in the American Jewish Archives (MS 626) includes more than 600 cubic feet of materials. Although the bulk of the documents date from the 20th century, according to this catalogue, the collection includes a few records from the late 17th and early 18th centuries, namely wills and inventories of estates and documentation regarding the acquisition of lots for the building of the Mill Street synagogue (1728) and the community's burial place (1729).
Some of the most relevant records for the history of the Shearith Israel congregation can be found in the Clerk's Office series, which includes minutes of the governing bodies (from 1784), vital records, financial records, and correspondence. It includes the oldest record book of the Shearith Israel that survived to the present day, dating from 1719 to 1760, and written in Portuguese and English.
A typewritten catalogue composed in the 1980s and preserved in the Malcolm Stern Papers in the American Jewish Archives (MS 626) includes more than 600 cubic feet of materials. Although the bulk of the documents date from the 20th century, according to this catalogue, the collection includes a few records from the late 17th and early 18th centuries, namely wills and inventories of estates and documentation regarding the acquisition of lots for the building of the Mill Street synagogue (1728) and the community's burial place (1729).
Some of the most relevant records for the history of the Shearith Israel congregation can be found in the Clerk's Office series, which includes minutes of the governing bodies (from 1784), vital records, financial records, and correspondence. It includes the oldest record book of the Shearith Israel that survived to the present day, dating from 1719 to 1760, and written in Portuguese and English.
Administrative / Biographical history
The history of the oldest Congregation in the United States is intertwined with the history of the United States' first Jewish settlements. The arrival of 23 men, women, and children from Recife, Brazil, in 1654 marked the first settlement of Jews in North America. By 1655, more than ten Jewish men were in New Amsterdam, fulfilling the required prayer quorum by Jewish law. The group was prohibited from holding services publicly, but Governor Peter Stuyvesant (1612-72) granted them a place to bury their dead. Decades later, the Congregation acquired the Chatham Square Cemetery, used between 1682 and 1831.
When the British took New Amsterdam in 1664, they gave Lutherans the right to worship freely. In 1683, the Charter of Liberties, passed by the Colonial Assembly, extended this right to those "who profess Christianity." Jews were allowed to worship publicly by 1692. In 1695, Rev. John Miller, Chaplain of the Grenadiers in New York, drew a map of the city, mentioning "the Jewes Synagogue" as being on the South side of Beaver Street. A different site, on the north of Mill Street, is described in a real estate document dated 1700 as a synagogue. This site was rented from John Harperdinck for eight pounds a year and was used for worship until 1728.
Although more Ashkenazi Jews lived in New York than Sephardi, the religious services followed Spanish-Portuguese practices. The use of a minority's traditions for the synagogue is in part due to the affluence and leadership of the Sephardic community and to the appeal their culture held for Ashkenazi Jews. The records of Shearith Israel were kept in Portuguese until the early 18th century, when an English copy was added to give access to Ashkenazi members.
The first building intentionally built to serve as a synagogue was erected on Mill Street in 1728. Mill Street Synagogue was consecrated on April 8, 1730. It included a mikveh (ritual bath), a ladies' gallery, and a community centre built in 1731 and used as a school and meeting hall.
During the Revolutionary War, Jewish patriots, including Hazzan Gershom Mendes Seixas, fled to Philadelphia when the British overtook New York. Loyalist congregants retained the synagogue and conducted services when they were able. Seixas incorporated several patriotic prayers once he returned to New York in 1785. Among these prayers was the beginning of Thanksgiving Day Services supporting George Washington's Thanksgiving Day Proclamation in 1789.
The sole Jewish Congregation in New York City until 1825, Shearith Israel was the religious authority for the city's entire Jewish community. The elected officers provided kashrut supervision, charity, and children's education. Kashrut was known to have been available in New York since 1660. That year, the Dutch government permitted Asser Levy and Moses de Lucena to conduct their business as butchers. Records indicate that New York exported kosher meat, particularly to Curaçao and Jamaica, from 1730 until after the Revolution.
The Congregation's first organised charitable society was formed in approximately 1758. In that year, the minutes mention a Hebra (society) allowed to receive synagogue offerings and loans. A system of life pensions was provided for underprivileged members of the Congregation. This system was first mentioned in the 1760 minutes and most likely followed an example set by Congregation Sha'ar Hashamayim of London. In July 1802, the Congregation established the oldest existing Jewish philanthropic organisation in New York. Hebra Hased Va-Amet (Kindness and Truth Society) maintains the Congregation's cemeteries, helps impoverished Jews obtain a Jewish burial, and assists communities that have experienced disasters. Shearith Israel began other charitable societies over the years. Some lost energy and faded away, but others merged with existing societies and are still operating.
The Congregation was also responsible for its members' religious and secular education. The earliest reference to a rubi (teacher) is Benjamin Elias, mentioned in the synagogue minutes in 1728. A school building was erected in 1731 within the Mill Street Synagogue, and the earliest school was called Yeshibat Minhat Areb. Later, it became known as the Hebra, referring to the name of the building it occupied. In 1801, Myer Polonies left a generous sum to create a school, and Polonies Talmud Torah opened on May 2, 1802.
The increased Jewish immigration to the United States in the early 1800s created the need for a larger synagogue. As the city grew, congregation members followed the northward movement of the residential population.
Shearith Israel had to choose between moving uptown or rebuilding on the same existing lot. Sentiment won over demographics, and a second Mill Street Synagogue was built in the same location. It was dedicated on April 17-18, 1818.
The Jewish population increase also led the Congregation to buy land for a new cemetery on the north side of 13th Street (used only from 1802 to 1803) and later, in 1804, on 11th Street. This cemetery supplemented the one at Chatham Square. A severe yellow fever epidemic in 1822 led city officials to prohibit further burials within certain areas, closing off the Chatham Square cemetery. From 1823 through 1830, when further city development reconstructed 11th Street, the Second Cemetery was the only Jewish burial ground used. Another area on 21st Street was acquired in 1829, and Beth Hayim Shelishi (The Third Cemetery) was dedicated. When a city ordinance prohibited further burials south of 86th Street in 1851, the Congregation started to use land at Cypress Hills Cemetery on Long Island.
Meanwhile, the trustees had sold the building of the Mile End's Synagogue in 1833 and built a new one on Crosby Street, completed in 1834. The Crosby Street Synagogue served the Congregation for 25 years. By 1850, the neighbourhood had deteriorated, and residents moved away again. The Congregation sold the Crosby Street Synagogue in 1859, and services were held temporarily at 894 Broadway until a new building on 19th Street was erected. Hazzan Jacques Judah Lyons consecrated the 19th Street Synagogue on September 12, 1860. Residential movement uptown, coupled with problems in the design and structure of the building, led trustees to resolve to sell the building in 1864. However, it was only at the end of the century that the Congregation moved uptown. The 19th Street Synagogue was ceremoniously closed, and the new synagogue on Central Park West and 70th Street was consecrated on May 19, 1897.
When the British took New Amsterdam in 1664, they gave Lutherans the right to worship freely. In 1683, the Charter of Liberties, passed by the Colonial Assembly, extended this right to those "who profess Christianity." Jews were allowed to worship publicly by 1692. In 1695, Rev. John Miller, Chaplain of the Grenadiers in New York, drew a map of the city, mentioning "the Jewes Synagogue" as being on the South side of Beaver Street. A different site, on the north of Mill Street, is described in a real estate document dated 1700 as a synagogue. This site was rented from John Harperdinck for eight pounds a year and was used for worship until 1728.
Although more Ashkenazi Jews lived in New York than Sephardi, the religious services followed Spanish-Portuguese practices. The use of a minority's traditions for the synagogue is in part due to the affluence and leadership of the Sephardic community and to the appeal their culture held for Ashkenazi Jews. The records of Shearith Israel were kept in Portuguese until the early 18th century, when an English copy was added to give access to Ashkenazi members.
The first building intentionally built to serve as a synagogue was erected on Mill Street in 1728. Mill Street Synagogue was consecrated on April 8, 1730. It included a mikveh (ritual bath), a ladies' gallery, and a community centre built in 1731 and used as a school and meeting hall.
During the Revolutionary War, Jewish patriots, including Hazzan Gershom Mendes Seixas, fled to Philadelphia when the British overtook New York. Loyalist congregants retained the synagogue and conducted services when they were able. Seixas incorporated several patriotic prayers once he returned to New York in 1785. Among these prayers was the beginning of Thanksgiving Day Services supporting George Washington's Thanksgiving Day Proclamation in 1789.
The sole Jewish Congregation in New York City until 1825, Shearith Israel was the religious authority for the city's entire Jewish community. The elected officers provided kashrut supervision, charity, and children's education. Kashrut was known to have been available in New York since 1660. That year, the Dutch government permitted Asser Levy and Moses de Lucena to conduct their business as butchers. Records indicate that New York exported kosher meat, particularly to Curaçao and Jamaica, from 1730 until after the Revolution.
The Congregation's first organised charitable society was formed in approximately 1758. In that year, the minutes mention a Hebra (society) allowed to receive synagogue offerings and loans. A system of life pensions was provided for underprivileged members of the Congregation. This system was first mentioned in the 1760 minutes and most likely followed an example set by Congregation Sha'ar Hashamayim of London. In July 1802, the Congregation established the oldest existing Jewish philanthropic organisation in New York. Hebra Hased Va-Amet (Kindness and Truth Society) maintains the Congregation's cemeteries, helps impoverished Jews obtain a Jewish burial, and assists communities that have experienced disasters. Shearith Israel began other charitable societies over the years. Some lost energy and faded away, but others merged with existing societies and are still operating.
The Congregation was also responsible for its members' religious and secular education. The earliest reference to a rubi (teacher) is Benjamin Elias, mentioned in the synagogue minutes in 1728. A school building was erected in 1731 within the Mill Street Synagogue, and the earliest school was called Yeshibat Minhat Areb. Later, it became known as the Hebra, referring to the name of the building it occupied. In 1801, Myer Polonies left a generous sum to create a school, and Polonies Talmud Torah opened on May 2, 1802.
The increased Jewish immigration to the United States in the early 1800s created the need for a larger synagogue. As the city grew, congregation members followed the northward movement of the residential population.
Shearith Israel had to choose between moving uptown or rebuilding on the same existing lot. Sentiment won over demographics, and a second Mill Street Synagogue was built in the same location. It was dedicated on April 17-18, 1818.
The Jewish population increase also led the Congregation to buy land for a new cemetery on the north side of 13th Street (used only from 1802 to 1803) and later, in 1804, on 11th Street. This cemetery supplemented the one at Chatham Square. A severe yellow fever epidemic in 1822 led city officials to prohibit further burials within certain areas, closing off the Chatham Square cemetery. From 1823 through 1830, when further city development reconstructed 11th Street, the Second Cemetery was the only Jewish burial ground used. Another area on 21st Street was acquired in 1829, and Beth Hayim Shelishi (The Third Cemetery) was dedicated. When a city ordinance prohibited further burials south of 86th Street in 1851, the Congregation started to use land at Cypress Hills Cemetery on Long Island.
Meanwhile, the trustees had sold the building of the Mile End's Synagogue in 1833 and built a new one on Crosby Street, completed in 1834. The Crosby Street Synagogue served the Congregation for 25 years. By 1850, the neighbourhood had deteriorated, and residents moved away again. The Congregation sold the Crosby Street Synagogue in 1859, and services were held temporarily at 894 Broadway until a new building on 19th Street was erected. Hazzan Jacques Judah Lyons consecrated the 19th Street Synagogue on September 12, 1860. Residential movement uptown, coupled with problems in the design and structure of the building, led trustees to resolve to sell the building in 1864. However, it was only at the end of the century that the Congregation moved uptown. The 19th Street Synagogue was ceremoniously closed, and the new synagogue on Central Park West and 70th Street was consecrated on May 19, 1897.
Access points: locations
Access points: persons, families
Access points: corporate bodies
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
Access, restrictions
Some historical documents and materials are kept in the synagogue building, but most of the collection (especially older documents) is housed offsite at a specialised storage facility in New Jersey.
Requests should be submitted through a specific form on the congregation website. Requests will be evaluated upon receipt, and an answer will be sent within a few days with a fee estimate. For requests that can be looked up, scanned, or copied from records located in the synagogue building, the standard administrative fee is $25. For records that require access to the New Jersey storage facility, the standard fee is $150.
Requests should be submitted through a specific form on the congregation website. Requests will be evaluated upon receipt, and an answer will be sent within a few days with a fee estimate. For requests that can be looked up, scanned, or copied from records located in the synagogue building, the standard administrative fee is $25. For records that require access to the New Jersey storage facility, the standard fee is $150.
Author of the description
Carla Vieira, 2023
Published primary sources
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| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Congregation Shearith Israel Archives | Collections (official language of the state) |
| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Samuel Oppenheim Papers | Existence and location of originals |