Jewish-Gentile Relations in Early
America Documented in Archives

J e w i s h-Gentile friendship
flourished in Colonial and
Revolutionary America, if not
like the proverbial bay tree,
then at least like its cousin,
the flowering locust.
This is the finding of the
American Jewish Archives, the
research historical center on the
Cincinnati campus of Hebrew
Union College-
Jewish Insti-
tute s of Reli-
gion.
Spurred by
a family mem-
oir published
recently by
nonagenarian
U. S. Senator
Theodore F.
Green, Rhode
Island Demo-
crat, who nar- Sen. Green
rated how his fore-father, Dr.
John Green, had sheltered Jews
fleeing Newport and its British
occupiers during the Revolution,
the Archieves examined its
historical materials and un-
covered other interesting ex-
amples of inter-faith friendship.
Sen. Green, writing to Wor-
cester'i' Evening Gazette, told
about an "incident in early fam-
ily history of which I am
proud."
"During the Revolution," he
wrote, "it seemed likely that
the British would take New-
port, R.I., and their attitude
toward the Jews was known to
be hostile. Therefore, the Jews
fled from the city to go up to
a safer place. They selected
some town beyond Worcester.
"However, when they came
to Worcester, the inn refused
to admit them and so did the
people to whom appeal was
made for hospitality, and my
forefather, Dr. John Green,
offered to put them up at (his
estate) Green Hill.
"They accepted his hospitality
and later when it was thought
safe for them to return to New-
port, they stopped on their way
back to thank Dr. Green. Not
having anything else they could
give him they planted two locust
trees, one on either side of the
front door. They grew to be
great trees and I remember
them well."
The citizenry of Worcester—
Dr. John Green, of Green Hill,
excepted—may have been un-
sympathetic to the Jewish
Newporters who sought tem-
porary asylum, but records in
the files of American Jewish
Archieves suggest that Wor-
cester's attitude was by no
means typical.
Aaron Lopez, who was a dis-
tinguished American Jew of
that period and may have been
one of Dr. Green's guests at
Green Hill, wrote of nearby
Leicester that there he and
his family "experienced the
civilities and hospitality of a
kind neighborhood." _
He made this statement, in-
cidentally, to a close non-Jewish
friend, Joseph Anthony, who
had fled Newport .
Pennsyl-
vania. Anthony d a
written
Lopez of his hope that the
Lopezes were "in secure quar-
ters in a land of peace and
plenty."
Nearly 80 years later,
Leicester's chronicler wrote of
the Jewish families who had
established themselves in the
town during the Revolution that
"though differing from their
neighbors in . ;Liatters of reli-
gious faith, they won the con-
fidence and esteem of all by
their upright and honorable
dealing, the kindliness and pub-
lic spirit which they evinced
as citizens."
Lopez'. most illustrious Gen-
tile friend was President Ezra
Stiles of Yale College, who
described him in his diary as
"amiable, benevolent, most hos-
pitable and very respectable."
The friendly relations that
Aaron Lopez enjoyed with his
non-Jewish neighbors and asso-

Face New Year with Confidence

(Copyright, 1960, Jewish
Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)

ciates in 18th-century America
were admirably summed up by
Dr. Stiles, who composed an in-
scription for Lopez' grave in
Newport:
"He was a merchant of emi-
nence, of polite and amiable
manners. Hospitality, liberality,
and benevolence, were his true
characteristics. An ornament
and valuable pillar of the Jew-
ish society (synagogue), of
which he was a member, his
knowledge in commerce was
unbounded and his integrity ir-
reproachable; thus he lived and
died, much regretted, esteemed
and loved by all."
Many other pleasant early.
American Jewish-Gentile rela-
tionships are documented in the
files of the American Jewish
Archives. Dr. Jacob R. Marcus
is its director.

More than 500 persons who
have lost their voice boxes due
to cancer have learned to speak
again through training in eso-
phageal speech. Classes are
held daily at the Cancer Cen-
tel-, 4811 John R, Detroit, a
free service of the Michigan
Cancer Foundation, a Torch
Drive service.

Removal of Fruit Trees
Prohibited by Tradition

Happily making toys for a nearby orphanage is one of ,
Israel's senior immigrants in a home operated by Malben, made
possible by American Jews through the United Jewish Appeal.
Malben, which cares for aged, handicapped and chronically ill
immigrants in Israel, is an arm of the Joint Distribution Com-
mittee, itself a UJA constituent agency. During the New Year
5721, tens of thousands, inside and outside Israel, require
constant medical and institutional care, therapy and rehabili-
tation.

By RABBI SAMUEL J. FOX
Jewish tradition prohibits the
removal of fruit-bearing trees.
The Talmud (Babli, Baba
Kama, 91b) specifies under
which conditions this is pro- :
hibited and under which condi-
tions this is permitted. The in-
terdiction is traced to the pass-
age in the Bible where the
people are told what to do in
the case of a besieged city
which has been taken.
There it is written: . "Thou
shalt not destroy the trees
thereof by wielding an axe
against them; for thou mayest
eat of them but thou shalt not
cut them down." (Dent. 20:19).
The passage then goes on to
say: "Only the trees, of which
thou knowest they are not trees
for food, them thou mayest de-
stroy and cut down." - (Deut.
20:20).
The general reasoning given
for this prohibition is that man
is not to destroy that which has
been placed upon this earth to
be productive. Exceptions are
made, according to the Talmud,
where greater productivity may
be had from the wood than
from the fruit of the given tree.

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