JCC Summer
Membership Special
The BiG StorY
firstJew elected to office. He is Fran-
cis Salvador, who serves on the first
I and second Provincial Congresses.
1775: Philip Moses Russel is the
only Jew to serve at Valley Forge.
Russel, a surgeon% mate with the Sec-
ond Virginia Regiment, is commend-
ed by George Washington for his
"assiduous and faithful attention to the
sick and wounded" at Valley Forge.
1856: Nine Jews are among the
founders of the Republican Party:
Edward Kanter of Detroit, Moritz Pin-
ner of Missouri, Abram Dittenhoefer
of New York, Abraham Jonas of Illi-
nois, Abraham Kohn of Illinois,
Abraham Arnold of Maryland, Sigis-
mund Kaufmann of New York,
Aaron Dropsie of Pennsylvania and
Moses Naar of New Jersey.
1860: For the first time in American
1776: Francis Salvador becomes
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the first Jew to die in the American
Revolution. Salvador, who was born
in London, was known as the "South-
ei'n Paul Revere." He was 26 years
old when he came in 1773 to
America, settling in Charleston, S.C.
He died fighting Cherokee Indians,
who had sided with the British. One
man who witnessed Salvador's death
recalled, "Mr. Francis Salvador, who
was riding alongside the Major
[Andrew Williamson], was shot
through the body and left leg: and
falling among the bushes, he was
unfortunately discovered by the lndi-
I ans immediately ... He retained his
senses to the last; and when Major
Williamson came up and spoke to
him, he anxiously asked whether the
enemy was beaten? And upon
being told that they were, he
replied, he rejoiced at it: when shak-
ing the Major by the hand, he bade
him farewell — and died." Salvador
I died on Aug. 1, 1776, one month
after the signing of the Declaration of
Independence, though he never
learned that America had become
an independent nation.
1789: When George Washington
Jewish Community Center
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Jewish Community Center
of Metropolitan Detroit
D. Dan and Betty Kahn Building
Eugene and Marcia Applebaum
Jewish Community Campus
6600 W. Maple Rd., West Bloomfield, MI 48322
Jimmy Prentis Morris Building
A. Alfred Taubman
Jewish Community Campus
15110 W. 10 Mile Rd., Oak Park, MI 48237
is inaugurated first president of the
United States, among the 14 mem-
bers of the clergy to participate in
the ceremony is Rabbi Gershom M.
Seixas of Shearith Israel in New
York. Rabbi Seixas was appointed
to his position with the congrega-
tion in 1768.
1825: Congregation B'nai Jeshu-
run, in New York, becomes the first
I Ashkenazi synagogue established in
1 the United States.
history, a rabbi — Morris Raphael —
leads the opening prayer at a session
of the U.S. Congress.
1861: David Camden De Leon
becomes the first surgeon general of
the Confederate Armies of America.
1861: When the Civil War begins,
the Union Army includes 6,000 Jews,
while the Confederate Army has
some 2,000 Jewish soldiers. The
highest-ranking Jewish officer serving
with the Union is Maj. Gen. Frederick
Knefler, who commands the 79th Indi-
ana Regiment.
1888: Fifteen prominent Orthodox
synagogues in New York appoint
Rabbi Jacob Joseph the first chief
rabbi of the United States. Rabbi
Joseph, a native of Vilna, Poland, was
founder of the Beis Sefer Yeshiva and
the author of Lebeth Yoalcov. Before
coming to the United States, he was
a leading speaker and scholar in
Poland. Initially, the idea of a chief
rabbi for the United States had some
interest, though the plan faltered when
the various New York congregations
failed to support the plan. Rabbi
Joseph, this country's first and only
chief rabbi, died in 1902. More than
20,000 persons attended his funeral.
1905: The first Encyclopedia
Judaica is published, thanks to editor
Dr. Isidor Singer.
1906: Oscar Solomon Straus
I becomes the first Jewish member of
a presidential cabinet. Theodore
Roosevelt appoints Straus as his sec-
retary of commerce, a position
Straus holds until 1909.