h . #.• ew name: New York. Rabbinic leadership was always a evere problem. It w as not until the 9th Century that a rabbinical school forinally, established in America. those early years, there were no shiyahs or a sufficient number of ualified Hebrew teachers, spiritual ders, ritual slaughterers, circurncis- 'ers, cantors and others needed to sus a vigorous Jewish community. d while Jews arrived in the eorgia colony just six months after was founded in the early 1700s, me anti-Jewish restrictions emained in America until the century. Rhode Island, despite roud legacy of Roger Williams id religious liberty, did not allow ws to vote or hold elective office til 1843. aryland, which was established as colonial haven for. Roman tholics, did not remove Jewish vot- restrictions and the legal necessity swear public oaths on the New eitament until 1826. J ust as the name "Shearith Israel" eaks volumes about the early set- ers' .view of the future, so, too, does 'construction of the famous syna- e in Newport, RI., tells us about mindset of Jews in colonial ,,America. .-iToday, that Jewish house of worship, the Touro agogue, completed in 1763, is a historic motional landmark. It is, however, often forgotten at the congregationalleaders insisted their syna- ogue include a secret trap door that could pro- ide speedy escape, in the case of possible anti- ish physical violence. In a symbolic act of con- fidence in themselves and the newly emerging American society, the Newport Jews permanently covered the trap door. The days of fleeing were America to escape government-sponsored anti-Semitism including lethal pogroms. Religion in America was "deregulated" as a result of history and the Constitution's First Amendment. So, too, Jewish life has been "deregulated." A myriad of religious expres- siOns, trade unionism, socialism, Zionism, Yiddishkeit, secularism and domestic politics . (both liberal and conservative) have all been part of the American Jewish mix. It is estimated that nearly 70 percent of today's American Jewish community trace their family roots to that post-1882 surge in immigration to the United States. In more recent years, the American Jewish community has witnessed newcomers from such'places the former Soviet Union, Iran and Israel. Finally, our community's early history offers some lessons as we celebrate 350 years of J ewish life in this part of the world. O G merging Leadership By the time of the War of Independence in the 770S and 1780s, it is estimated that American Jews numbered about 3,000 out of a total popula- 0on of about 3 million, one-tenth of 1, percent! Nearly 130 years after the Recife refugees ar rived in New Amsterdam, American Jews still depended upon Europe for spiritual sustenance and religious validation. But one man helped change that situation, and his career and achieve- mentS parallel the growing political maturity of the American colonists who rejected English control and set out on a course of national independence. Gershom Mendes Seixas (1746-1816), a mem- ber of a prominent Sephardic family, was a trans- forming figure in American Jewish history: Indeed, he represents a *tulique combination of leadership in both the Jewish and the general American societies, a prototype of future ,American Jewish leaders. 4". "4:14 £i h Building A Communiol V•4 • He started his career as a synagogue functionary at Shearith Israel in NeW York. Seixas acted as the mdonid (teacher) and chazzan (cantor) of the congregation. He was also a self-taught rnohd (rit- ual circumcises) and shochet (ritual slaughterer). He was involved in births, marriages and deaths and slowly emerged as the religious and commu- nal leader of American Jewry. Seixas supported the American colonists' strug- gle for independence, and he was an invited guest at George Washington's presidential inauguration in 1789. Two hundred years later, descendents of Seixas were honored guests at George H.-W. Bush's inaugural. Sekas was a trustee of Columbia University for 20 years and the New York State Legislature elected him to the first Board of Regents of the State University. It is important to remember that from the out- set, Jewish life in America was based upon volun- teerism. Unlike many European communities, the kehillah (a unified community often endowed with government approval) never took hold in either the colonies or in the United States. There was no government-collected religious tax nor were there legally established ghettoes in America's cities. Nor is there a one-size-fits-all American Judaisn-i. Geographically far from older Jewish communi- ties in Europe and other parts of the world, the - tiny "Remnant of Israel" grew independently, albeit slowly. Its size grew larger following the Jewish immi- gration after 1848 and the failed political revolu- tions in Europe and especially after 1882, when millions of Jews from Eastern 'Europe came to :From the very beginning in 1654, Jews in :‘America were compelled to develop their own" communal institutions to guarantee sur- vival. No one person and no government did it for them. We need to salute the brave men and - women who in those early decades con- , sciously chose to maintain Jewish life in America as a tiny minority. I3efore the mass immigration of millions- of Jews, GershOm Mendes Seixas and others, including. Isaac Leeser of Philadelphia and Isaac Mayer Wise of Cincinnati, recognized that a new American Judaism needed its own schools, unions of con- gregations, newspapers, publications, prayer books and other necessities of Jewish life. Back then as now, Jewish life frequently appeared fractured, divided., and even chaotic. But, in fact,.that seeming disarray actually resulted in a vigorous, robust and creative Jewish commu- nity. The legacy of people like Seixas is that American Jews must "do it themselves:" Tragically, that fact became even clearer follow- ing the Holocaust when the extraordinary well- springs of Jewish creativity in Europe were destroyed.. And it is also clear that, after nearly 60 years of Israeli independence, American Jews can- not use the embattled and beloved Jewish state as their surrogate for Jewish identity and continuity.. Seixasioffers a model for our future as a viable community: He was rooted in Jewish learning, religious Corninitment and communal leadership. At the same time, he was an active and full Partic- ipant in the democratic American society. Seixas was sure-footed in his faith as a Jew andhe was sure-footed in his identity as an American, As we move towards our 400th birthday, the American Jewish community, now 350 years old, would do well to remember some words from both an English poet and the Bible. In his poem, "Rabbi Ben Ezra," Robert Browning wrote : "Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be ... And Joshua's first chapter: "Hawk'v'ematz" (Be strong and of good courage!").