O

86 Friday, September 21, 1979

MRS. GEORGE MAXI

16607 Ilene, Detroit

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extends to all her relatives
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and friends A Happy,
Healthy New Year
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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

arly U.S. Synagogues Had Sephardi Roots

By RABBI MARC ANGEL

Shearith Israel (founded in
NEW YORK — There is a 1654) that when some of
tradition among several of their ancestors came to New
the oldest families of Cong. York in colonial times, they
brought with them the fears
and habits which they had
acquired while living in
Mr. & Mrs. Handelsman
Spain and Portugal under
the Inquisition.
Wish all their
For many years after
their arrival here, the
Relatives and Friends
women especially who had
A HAPPY, HEALTHY & PROSPEROUS
been so used to saying their
Hebrew prayers in their na-
NEW YEAR
tive lands while holding a
Catholic rosary, could not
break themselves of that
practice even in New York.
At noon time, they crossed
themselves when the clock
struck.
Another family tradition
29184 Lancaster Drive
has it that one of the
newly-arrived Jews in those
Southfield
times had in fact been tor-
tured by the forces of the In-
quisition.
wish all their friends
These family traditions
underscore the difficult
and relatives
conditions of Jewish life
during the 17th and early
A Happy, Healthy and Prosperous
18th Centuries.
New Year
Throughout the world,
Jewish communities
were facing one crisis or
another, and all too often
they were victims of vio-
lence and persecution.
Following the expulsion
of the Jews from Spain in
1492 and the outlawing of
the Jewish religion in Por-
tugal in 1497 ; Jewish life in
the Iberian Peninsula had
officially come to an end.
However, many Jews re-
mained in Spain and Por-
tugal, preferring conversion
to Catholicism to expulsion.
While many of these indi-
viduals were lost to
Judaism, others secretly
maintained their Jewish
identity and in time re-
turned to Judaism. These
former Marranos estab-
lished vibrant communities
in Amsterdam, London,
Paris, Hamburg and
elsewhere in Western
Europe. A number of these
Spanish and Portuguese
Jews came to the New
World enjoying the
tolerance of the Dutch gov-
ernment.
In 1654, the Portuguese
battled the Dutch for con-
trol of a section of Brazil, a
battle in which the Jews
fought for the Dutch. With
the Portuguese victory, the
Jews left the area, return-
ing to Amsterdam or going
to such places as Curacao,
St. Thomas, Jamaica, and
Surinam.
One group of 23 Jews
from Recife — after a
series of accidents —
ended up in New
Amsterdam in Sep-
tember 1654. These indi-
viduals, carrying the
scars of a difficult history
but also carrying tre-
mendous pride and reli-
gious faith, represented
the first group of Jewish
settlers in the North
American mainland.
The congregation they
founded, Shearith Israel
(meaning the remnant of
Israel") well symbolized
their feelings at that time.
They had come to a land
where there was no Jewish
community to greet them,

Clara and Peter Weisberg

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to you aft!

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no synagogue, no kosher
facilities, no Jewish federa-
tion's or self-help groups.
They were the remnant of
Israel, a small group of iso-
lated Jews separated by
vast distances from other
Jewish communities.
Their arrival was in Sep-
tember, shortly before the
celebration of Rosh
Hashana and Yom Kippur.
How disheartening it must
have been for them not to be
able to pray in large,
crowded synagogues; yet,
they must have felt deep
gratitude to God for having
spared their lives.
This group of individuals,
and others who followed in
the ensuing years, laid the
foundation for Jewish life in
this continent. They waged
the first civil rights battle,
winning religious rights as
well as the right of serving
in civic positions.
The early years of
Jewish life in this coun-
try wereApt easy. The
Jews needed to struggle
to win the right to travel,
reside and trade in New
Amsterdam like the other
residents of the city.
Dr. David de Sola Pool, in
his book An Old Faith In
The New World" has writ-
ten: "The Jews who came to
New Amsterdam did not
find freedom. They fought to
create it. They helped to de-
fine it. Their unremitting
struggle to secure freedom
of worship in no small
measure enlarged the very
conception - of spiritual lib-
erty and helped lay the
foundations for its
achievement."
The small Jewish com-
munity soon organized it-
self. They established a
place for worship and for
meeting. They did their best
to provide Jewish education
for their young, to provide
kosher meat for the mem-
bers of the community, to
help the needy, and to meet
the requirements of all Jews
in the city.
It is interesting to note
that Shearith Israel was the
only Jewish congregation in

New York City' from 1654
until 1825. For that entire
period, all Jewish life was
concentrated in this single
congregation.
During The Colonial
period, other Jewish
congregations were es-
tablished in Newport,
Philadelphia, Charleston
and Savannah. In the
1760s, a congregation
was founded in Montreal,
Canada. All of these early
synagogues were
Spanish and Portuguese
— that is, they followed
the liturgy and customs
of the Spanish and Por-
tuguese Jews.
It should be recognized,
however, that many of the
Jews who arrived in
America during Colonial
times were Ashkenazim.
Although the Sephardic
cultural characteristics and
synagogue ritual prevailed,
Ashkenazic Jews partici-
pated fully in the leadership
of the various communities.
Intermarriage among the
members of both groups was
quite common.

When it goeth well with
the righteous, the city re-
joiceth; and when the
wicked perish, there is joy.

[

Mrs. Mollie Warsh

wishes her family and friends
a year filled with health and
happiness

Mr. and Mrs. Leo Weber
and Family

wish all their:friends
and relatives
a happy and healthy New Year

MORRIS
and SYLVIA
BOBROFF

20810 Andover Rd., Southfield

WISH THEIR
FRIENDS & RELATIVES
A HAPPY & HEALTHY

NEW YEAR

■

I Happy New Year

MOORE'S SHOE REPAIR

Evergreen Plaza, 12 Mile & Evergreen

NEW YEAR BEST WISHES

SUN OIL CO.

**************** •
• * HAPPY NEW YEAR .

.
and Best Wishes
.
..
. To All Our Friends & Relatives .

M.
Weiss:
. & Mrs. and Harry
Son

• ****************.

Best Wishes
For A Happy and Healthy New Year

HIAS Appoints _
Director to Aid
the Boat People

NEW YORK — Ezekiel
Pearlman, associate direc-
tor of the Federation of
Jewish Agencies of Greater
Philadelphia, has been ap-
pointed to the HIAS staff as
director of a special unit to
handle the national reset-
tlement of Indochinese ref-
ugees referred to the agency
by the U.S. Department of
State.
HIAS is among several
U.S. voluntary agencies
that are aiding in this re-
scue effort. It recently an-
nounced that it has doubled
its commitment — to 6,000
— for the current year in as-
sisting Indochinese refu-
gees, many of them boat
people.

Florence and
Harry Kahrnoff
wish all their friends and
relatives a year of good
health and happiness

ALPORT SCRAP AND
SALVAGE CO.

Fred Rapoport
Jeffrey Cole

Albert Borkin
Jeffrey Rapoport

7900 Dix Ave., Detroit, Mich. 48209
843-0721

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.Nappy new *ar
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• TO OUR MANY FRIENDS AND CUSTOMERS •
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Hank's Clothes

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28950 Orchard Lake Road

Between 12 and 13 Mile Roads, Farmington Hills

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626-7007
626-7000
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