Minutes and correspondence of the congregation, 1782-1790
Item
Country
US
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
eng
Contact information: postal address
Goldfarb and Farber Libraries, MS 045, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA 02453
Contact information: phone number
001 781 736 5626
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
library@brandeis.edu
Reference number
Marcus BM653 .C74 1900z
Type of reference number
Call number
Title (official language of the state)
Minutes and correspondence of the congregation, 1782-1790
Language of title
eng
Creator / accumulator
Congregation Mikveh Israel (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Date(s)
1782/1790
Language(s)
eng
Extent
1 volume
Type of material
Textual Material
Scope and content
This volume includes typescript copies of records from the Congregation Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia in the 1780s, including minutes and correspondence with added summary and outline information.
Administrative / Biographical history
Congregation Mikveh Israel, also known as the "Synagogue of the American Revolution," is the oldest formal congregation in Philadelphia.
Scattered records indicate the presence of Jewish traders in the Delaware Valley before William Penn took possession of his colony in 1682. In 1784, a German traveller listed the presence of Jewish families among the religious sects of early Philadelphia. Nathan Levy established himself in the import/export trade with his cousin David Franks in the Philadelphia port by 1735. In 1740, Levy applied to Thomas Penn, Royal Proprietor of Pennsylvania, for a plot to bury his child under Jewish ritual. It became a Jewish cemetery, the first evidence of Jewish communal life in Philadelphia. The beginning of Mikveh Israel dates back to the establishment of the cemetery.
Religious services were first held in private homes, including Nathan Levy's. Later, rented quarters were obtained, first on Sterling Alley (presently Orianna Street), then around the corner on Cherry Street.
During the War of Independence, Jews from New York, Richmond, Charleston, Savannah, Lancaster and Easton fled to Philadelphia, seeking refuge from the British. In 1780, Rev. Gershom Mendes Seixas, Hazzan of Congregation Shearith Israel in New York, came to Philadelphia and became its religious leader. During his tenure, he was instrumental in establishing the form of prayer and organisational structure under the Spanish-Portuguese tradition, which remains today.
An increase in membership and financial help from those who sought refuge in Philadelphia allowed the congregation to establish a permanent religious home. A lot was purchased on Cherry Alley. A carpenter and bricklayer were hired to build a two-story brick building, hardly distinguishable by style from those around it. Space on the lot was approved for a home for the Hazzan, a school and a mikvah, and an oven for Matza baking for Passover.
The first Jewish charitable organisation in the city, the Ezrath Orechim (Society for the Relief of Destitute Strangers), was established in 1783, with Jacob I. Cohen as president, Isaiah Bush as secretary, and Haym Salomon as treasurer.
Congregation members, including Rev. Seixas, returned to New York, Charleston and other locations when British occupation ceased. In 1788, a subscription list was addressed to "worthy fellow Citizens of every religious Denomination", following debt incurred by synagogue construction loans. Among the contributors were Benjamin Franklin; Thomas McKean, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Chief Justice and later Governor of Pennsylvania; William Bradford, Attorney-General of Pennsylvania; and Thomas Fitzsimmons, a drafter of the U.S. Constitution, first president of the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and the city's leading Catholic layman.
When the 1782 building became inadequate, the Board of Adjuntos (Managers) voted to build a larger synagogue on the same site. The new building opened in 1825, designed by architect William Strickland. The growth of the Jewish population in Philadelphia before the Civil War (1861-1865) led to the construction of a new synagogue on 7th Street, designed by John McArthur, Jr. (later, architect of City Hall of Philadelphia). In the early 20th century, many Jews moved to the area between Broad and 16th Streets, north of Girard Avenue, and a new building was constructed in 1909 at Broad and York Streets, flanked by Gratz and Dropsie Colleges. In 1976, the congregation moved to Independence Mall, close to its original site, together with the National Museum of American Jewish History. The building opened on July 4, 1976, the Nation's Bicentennial. In August 2010, the National Museum of American Jewish History moved from the synagogue's building to a new building at 5th and Market Streets.
Scattered records indicate the presence of Jewish traders in the Delaware Valley before William Penn took possession of his colony in 1682. In 1784, a German traveller listed the presence of Jewish families among the religious sects of early Philadelphia. Nathan Levy established himself in the import/export trade with his cousin David Franks in the Philadelphia port by 1735. In 1740, Levy applied to Thomas Penn, Royal Proprietor of Pennsylvania, for a plot to bury his child under Jewish ritual. It became a Jewish cemetery, the first evidence of Jewish communal life in Philadelphia. The beginning of Mikveh Israel dates back to the establishment of the cemetery.
Religious services were first held in private homes, including Nathan Levy's. Later, rented quarters were obtained, first on Sterling Alley (presently Orianna Street), then around the corner on Cherry Street.
During the War of Independence, Jews from New York, Richmond, Charleston, Savannah, Lancaster and Easton fled to Philadelphia, seeking refuge from the British. In 1780, Rev. Gershom Mendes Seixas, Hazzan of Congregation Shearith Israel in New York, came to Philadelphia and became its religious leader. During his tenure, he was instrumental in establishing the form of prayer and organisational structure under the Spanish-Portuguese tradition, which remains today.
An increase in membership and financial help from those who sought refuge in Philadelphia allowed the congregation to establish a permanent religious home. A lot was purchased on Cherry Alley. A carpenter and bricklayer were hired to build a two-story brick building, hardly distinguishable by style from those around it. Space on the lot was approved for a home for the Hazzan, a school and a mikvah, and an oven for Matza baking for Passover.
The first Jewish charitable organisation in the city, the Ezrath Orechim (Society for the Relief of Destitute Strangers), was established in 1783, with Jacob I. Cohen as president, Isaiah Bush as secretary, and Haym Salomon as treasurer.
Congregation members, including Rev. Seixas, returned to New York, Charleston and other locations when British occupation ceased. In 1788, a subscription list was addressed to "worthy fellow Citizens of every religious Denomination", following debt incurred by synagogue construction loans. Among the contributors were Benjamin Franklin; Thomas McKean, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Chief Justice and later Governor of Pennsylvania; William Bradford, Attorney-General of Pennsylvania; and Thomas Fitzsimmons, a drafter of the U.S. Constitution, first president of the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and the city's leading Catholic layman.
When the 1782 building became inadequate, the Board of Adjuntos (Managers) voted to build a larger synagogue on the same site. The new building opened in 1825, designed by architect William Strickland. The growth of the Jewish population in Philadelphia before the Civil War (1861-1865) led to the construction of a new synagogue on 7th Street, designed by John McArthur, Jr. (later, architect of City Hall of Philadelphia). In the early 20th century, many Jews moved to the area between Broad and 16th Streets, north of Girard Avenue, and a new building was constructed in 1909 at Broad and York Streets, flanked by Gratz and Dropsie Colleges. In 1976, the congregation moved to Independence Mall, close to its original site, together with the National Museum of American Jewish History. The building opened on July 4, 1976, the Nation's Bicentennial. In August 2010, the National Museum of American Jewish History moved from the synagogue's building to a new building at 5th and Market Streets.
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Author of the description
Carla Vieira, 2023
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