I am not Jewish. I am African American. I enjoy learning about how various people came to America.

Many years I was walking in New York's Chinatown and passed by a very tiny Cemetery tucked away in the backyard of an apartment building. The cemetery was barely visible from the street and could only be seen if like me you are very tall. There was a plaque that said this was the first Jewish cemetery in North America. The names were Sephardic sounding Spanish or Portuguese but often with a Jewish first name. The plaque said that the cemetery was on "the outdkirts" of New Amsterdam.

@shaydowsith348

2 жыл бұрын

Often the first Jewish "building" of any sort in a community in the U.S. is not a synagogue or a mikvah, but rather a Cemetary. It was here in Cleveland as well, where the first "Jewish" structure of any sort was a cemetary on the West Side of Cleveland. (although most of the Community now lives on the East Side, but that's a long story....)

"Send for Haym Salomon." Dude must have been an absolute baller.

@jeffmoncalieri7491

2 жыл бұрын

I pictured the scene from Pulp Fiction where Jules (Samuel Jackson) asks his boss for help. The boss sends "the Wolf" to fix everything. I can just see Washington arranging for Salomon to save the day in the same way.

@Doppelreiter

2 жыл бұрын

Better call Saul lol

I spent years amongst revolutionary era reenactors and armchair historians and never once heard any of this. Thank you so much!

@SamAronow

2 жыл бұрын

Well, as I said in the video, it's only a very small part of the overall picture. I think it would be great if more communities shed light on their own experiences like this. Like, I just found out that there was a well-established Muslim community in South Carolina. I want to know more about that.

@lookoutforchris

2 жыл бұрын

A good bit of this is covered in the PBS / Ken Burns New York City documentary from the 1990s.

@InfoArtistJKatTheGoodInfoCafe

2 жыл бұрын

@@SamAronow Why aren't you a rabbi? Thanks for this informative report.

Aaron Levy, prominent merchant of Philadelphia and a member of the Sons of Liberty was a close friend of Haym Salomon and like Salomon, donated much of his own fortune to the Continental Army. He also paid for the building of the first Lutheran church in Pennsylvania as an act of interfaith friendliness.

As a descendant of Prussian (Polish) Jews named Salomon, I am proud of Hayim Salomon's contribution to America's independence weather he is a blood relative or not.

Why was "and none have them had been a rabbi" the best cliffhanger of 2022 thus far?

I've always loved how detailed your maps were, even showing stuff that isn't important to the story at hand. I remember I could pause and see so many countries and locations. And I'm glad you included the indigenous tribes on the map because most maps about this time period that I've seen just included the various European colonies and then brown blank space for the rest. While everybody knows there were people there, the blank space thing can put forth the impression that the land was unimportant and the people sparse. So great job again I'm excited to see what comes next.

@kmaher1424

2 жыл бұрын

The maps in all these videos are quite wonderful

Love this video! I remember the first time that I learned about the history of American Jews. I had always been interested in history since I was a young child, but my public textbooks emphasized a narrow conception of what made up the American experience. I stumbled upon Jonathan Sarna's works, and for the first time I saw myself as an integral part of American history rather than being a later addition in the 19th century wave of immigration. After reading Sarna, I decided that I would study Jewish history in college and contribute to the scholarship of American Jewish life to spread the knowledge of our experiences in this country. A sheynem dank Sam for bringing the history of American Jews to light for a larger audience to see! It warms my heart to know that it might inspire those who are searching for themselves as part of the American story.

@SamAronow

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you! Sarna was a real pioneer; he himself states that the study of American Jewish history prior to the Open Door Policy was seen as something of a joke until very recently.

@andoriannationalist3738

2 жыл бұрын

Jews: See slaver ship owners.

@truckingwithmother8119

2 жыл бұрын

@@andoriannationalist3738 stop beinn shady and tell us whats on yurrr mind ???

My Grandfather whom was Sicilian-Italian saw some of the "Not quite White" stuff, and due to CCC service in the South saw Jim Crow, which he disapproved of. His best friend in the Army was a Jewish guy, whom he stayed in contact with after he left the East & moved to California.

"May the children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, and there shall be none to make him afraid." -President Washington, 1790

For me, as a Brazilian, it's very emotional to hear about the first fellow jews that founded the Kahar Zur Israel congregation here and their expulsion by the portuguese inquisition (specially for being a 'da Fonseca' from my paternal grandmother side like Isaac Aboab). Great work as always Sam!

@gabrielfelix2629

2 жыл бұрын

A lot of brazilians historians claim that we have the oldest synagogues in the Américas. Nice to hear about It in this great channel.

@andoreh

2 жыл бұрын

@@joaoribeiro5938 hahaha no, I am not hah

@andoreh

2 жыл бұрын

@@marceloorellana5726 Spanish and Portuguese Jews, more known as Sephardic. The biggest sinagogue in Amsterdam that dates back to 1675 is known as Portuguese Synagogue to its day. So Iberian Jews, Portuguese and Spanish Jews, Sephardic Jews are the correct terms.

@tudosobredinossauros8254

2 жыл бұрын

Eu também me animei quando ele falou da sinagoga de Pernambuco! Mas acho difícil ele fazer um vídeo sobre judeus América do Sul né. Enfim, bom ver um BR aqui nos comentários kkkkkk

@ursojudeu6397

2 жыл бұрын

@@andoreh Sepharadic significa espanhol em Hebraico. Você acabou de falar que espanhóis (sepharadi) é um termo melhor que hispânicos. De qualquer maneira, não faz muita diferença, os judeus portugueses na maioria vieram da Espanha, são espanhóis.

I have been to the Touro synagogue on a trip to Newport and prayed there during the festival of Sukkot. It’s a beautiful structure, built in the Portuguese style. Its congregation is dwindling and it’s more museum than synagogue now.

@SamAronow

2 жыл бұрын

It was kind of a museum early on, too. As I said in the video, Rhode Island’s Jewish community was always quite small and most left the country in 1783 due to their opposition to US independence.

@SenhoritaF.

2 жыл бұрын

@@marceloorellana5726 The Portuguese are not Hispanic in the sense of how Americans understand the term (referencing Spain, not Hispania). Also, most Portuguese themselves identify with the province of Lusitania, even calling themselves Lusitanians. So even if they CAN be similar sometimes, if something originates from Portugal, it should be called Portuguese, not Hispanic (that also applies to the colonies who inherited the cultures of the Portuguese Empire, Brazilians for example are Latinos but not Hispanic in the ''Spanish'' sense).

- "first Jew in the Americas…" - Joseph Smith joined to the chat. :D

@johnpoole3871

2 жыл бұрын

Why is he going to use his Seer Stones to find some buried treasure?

@Greg41982

2 жыл бұрын

Lol

@scottanos9981

2 жыл бұрын

Praise to the man!

Really loving your channel. Good history that I haven't heard anywhere else. Shoutout to my fellow 1/64+ Cherokees out there.

Great episode!

Thanks for this video Aaron! I studied this particular subject in my college US History class. My prof was Jewish and very renowned and respected for his extensive knowledge of Jewish history in the New World. Their history in the colony and state of New York in particular. I live in Albany County in the Capital District. The Revolution was literally fought in my back yard. The Liberty Bell was forged at the Meneely Bell Foundry that was located one block north of my childhood home. Saratoga and Bennington are only a short drive from my home. This video actually clarified some of the things I learned but it also taught me a lot that I wasn’t aware of. Namely how the Jewish citizens basically financed our fight for freedom while being unable to enjoy the fruits of their sacrifice like their fellow Americans. I really enjoy your channel, Aaron. Thank you again! 👍

This is awesome job! On my father's side, his grandfather's family were Sephardic Jews came to New Amsterdam from Holland, then ended up in Philadelphia. They received land grants from their service in War for Independence in the Applachian frontier. There they eventually assimilated as there was no Jewish community intermarrying among their neighbors with only their last name to point to their Jewish origin.

If it weren’t for Solomon Haym’s cash and credit we wouldn’t have won the War for Independence

I always look forward to you works!

I have been telling everybody at shul about you bro! I love your channel, I have learnt so much with your shiurim!!!! Thank you 🙏🏼!

I love your illustrations of people. Its a really good balance of detail and simplicity. Works well for a vector-based program like illustrator. The two shade approach to skin color and shadows is a great balance too. Kudos!

I didn't know that colonial Rhode Island didn't allow Jews to become citizens, wow... If any colonial Jews out there want citizenship, hmu and we can get married

@Elmagfe

2 жыл бұрын

I would like to get married

Thank you for this lecture. Very informative.

Man quality content as always. I LOVE this video.

another great vid, thanks

Great video on a fascinating topic, thank you!

thank you, this was phenomenal

Great video sam

Thank you, Sam!

Great content as always!!!!

I have always been curious about this subject but never had the strength to do the research myself. Thank you very much for this one!

great video as always

This is a great documentary, thank you for sharing it with us on KZread .

What a fascinating story! I especially enjoyed the music in this video.

Excellent work.

Don't mind me, I'm just celebrating the cameo of Tadeusz Kościuszko at 14:45. Seriously though, this video was full of fascinating information. Also, some outstanding voice acting during Caldwell's speech.

I had heard anecdotally that there was a jew who was involved in the funding of the revolutionary war. This was quite specific in explaining how that all came about. Thankyou.

@truckingwithmother8119

2 жыл бұрын

a book is needed on The Financial Hero Of The The 13 Colonies .Mr Saloman

I finally recognize the music you used in the video! Jean-Baptiste Lully est l'un des mes compositeurs préférés!

Amazing video! Keep it up!

0:50 mormons: actually

Very interesting! Bravo!👌

This was incredible I can’t wait to teach this to my students one day!!!

What an amazingly thought producing production! It was concise yet well researched, it covered multiple aspects of a wonderful part of our history as American. Thank you for the tremendous dedication to your research and editing discipline. A+ in my book! Thanks for sharing this. Poty Mouth Mike, San Antonio, Texas. Can't wait for your next one!

Was waiting for Charleston 👍🏽

VERY cool. I have always wondered about this.

Great video. I knew almost nothing of this.

The local Jewish library claims "Baltimore, the largest city in Maryland, is home is one of the United States' oldest and largest Jewish communities. As an immigrant port of entry and border town between North and South, as a gateway to the nation's interior and as a manufacturing center in its own right, Baltimore has been well-positioned to reflect developments in American Jewish life." It was from Baltimore that the Jews were sent to Israel during the Exodus of 1947

What a history lesson this is. Incredible. Astounding information.

Your Southern Accent is spot on. Well done sir.

@SamAronow

2 жыл бұрын

It's anachronistic, but I was channeling Johnny Reb.

So Jews literally saved the American Revolution from economic collapse? Thats amazing! Why didn't even my Jewish school teach this?

@SamAronow

2 жыл бұрын

Truthfully, this particular era of Jewish-American history is pretty minor even by the standards of Jewish history; it just had a lot of consequences further down the timeline.

@atomm3331

2 жыл бұрын

No

Thank you for making Jewish history ever more fascinating!

Now that was interesting, well presented articulate and intelligently presented.

Great Video! I'm training to be a High Shool History teacher in the United States. However, in all i've read, I' had never heard of Haym Solomon or of Locke specifically encouraging Jewish emigration into the Carolina Colonies. I'm always on the lookout for ways to inform students that minorities are for more important in their countries history than they might realize. Additionally, All your other videos have been highly informative and interesting as well. Keep up the great work!

Thank you for this magnificent, informative, and patriotic video! I learned so much about things I thought I knew, and I also learned a lot that was entirely new to me.

Hey Sam, amigo, how about a video on Portuguese Jews who went to northern Mexico 🇲🇽 (New Spain) and southern USA 🇺🇸 and stable shed there? Please???? I can’t find anything on that myself. Obviously you have an extraordinary source!

@GeneaVlogger

2 жыл бұрын

I would suggest reading Judith Neulander, "Crypto-Jews of the Southwest: An Imagined Community". The legitimacy of these claims are a widely contested debate amongst Sephardi researchers but I think Neulander's work is by far the best at discussing this subject, especially a lot of the issues with the evidence used to support the claims. I should also note that instead calling them Portuguese Jews it would be more accurate to call them Bnei Anusim or Crypto-Jews, Portuguese Jews is more often a reference to the Portuguese Jewish Nation which were the communities founded from the Western Sephardic Diaspora; Amsterdam, Livorno, London, Hamburg, Bayonne, Curacao, Suriname, Jamaica, etc. Recife was actually part of this collection of communities, most strongly connected to the Amsterdam community.

Just found this channel and I’m loving it. I’d love to see a video on the Assyrian (sometimes called Kurdish) Jews of Northern Iraq and Hakkari. Thanks and keep up the good work!

I hope to visit those historical places someday!

I just can not get over how good this series is. It has been an absolute pleasure to watch every episode.

As is well known Alexander Hamilton received his formative education at a Jewish school in the West Indies.

Sam! You're awesome! I've been looking for this story for over a decade. I was invited to a Passover Seder, and when I read the Haggadah, the words and tone sounded familiar, like... the Declaration of Independence. Ever since then I had the idea there was something missing from the story of the American Revolution, but I never found out much. This fills the gap that I knew was there.

A fantastic short history which I was never taught in highschool. Only did I learn much of history on my own. I will contest a little regarding Rodeisland, it was two flavours of Baptist that played heavly in it's founding not purtians so much.

@BrainySnacks

2 жыл бұрын

Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson were unorthodox puritans. They were both born and lived in puritan Massachusetts, and were each expelled because of their heresies against puritanism.

This video is very educational. Previously I had hear of Hyam Salomon but not much about other specific Colonial Jews. I knew of Jewish communities but not the full and great impact of those very small communities. This video earned a subscription.

Damn that was great 👍

Many Sephardic Jews who were miners, settled throughout the South in the early days of the country. They were more apt to assimilate than their Ashkenazic brethren and it appears that many married into non-Jewish European families including the Cherokee people throughout the Southeastern U.S. This explains why we see their genetic presence in Cherokee and Appalachian people's DNA history.

Brilliant thanks

I must congratulate Sam on his excellent choice in music.

New worlds jews are a fascinating group imagine how disconnected you would have been from the community and likely from classically trained rabbis and how that would have and did affect their attitudes and beliefs.

This is one of the most informative videos on US history I’ve ever encountered. Fantastic ✨

You do know how to tell a tale, young man!

Thank you for this video Do one about the Jews in the Antebellum South, as well as Jews in the American Civil War!

awesome story !

I will never understand antisemitism.

Although I've casually studied American history for decades, I was ignorant of all of this. Thank you for posting this video.

Thx for making this video, i'm of Jewish heritage and I'm an American so i find this fascinating

Something funny I'd noticed is that before Jews became common in the United States it was common for synagogues to be referred to as "Jewish churches."

@SamAronow

2 жыл бұрын

Islam was called "The Turkish Church."

@oaktree__

2 жыл бұрын

@@MrEVAQ Oh that's interesting! If you don't mind me asking, what's your first language?

@yakov95000

2 жыл бұрын

@@oaktree__ yea Synagogue is weird word to Hebrew speakers,I also didn't know how to say it in English until my late teen years and I have family in America🤦.

@SamAronow

2 жыл бұрын

Just wait until we deal with the fact that היכל and בית מקדש are the same word in Germanic languages...

@jeffmoncalieri7491

2 жыл бұрын

@@SamAronow What is the difference between the two? As you point out, in English both words translate into "temple".

Ahh man, Your southern accent... So good!

Sorry, I sent my message by mistake When the king Dom Manuel saw how many gifted and prosperous people his country was losing, he changed tack and performed mass, unconsented baptisms, transforming all Jews into nominal Catholics, who need not be expelled. Brazil was officially discovered in 1500. Many Jews fled to Brazil, as there was an erroneous belief that they might make their way overland to Israel. Almost all these immigrants were single men. More "reputable" Catholic Portuguese preferred going to India and Southeast Asia, as it was much easier to make a fortune there. Brazil, at the outset, had nothing of value. These recent immigrants found the Tupi-Guatani natives, with very different customs. One of these was polygamy, which for the Indians was considered the normal state of affairs. As a result, these early colonists had hordes of children, the ancestors of today's Brazilians. If one peruses the history of the early days in colonial Brazil, one will find incredible stories of exploration and exploits performed by these "New Christians " and their descendants. I saw one estimate, whose exact source I do not remember, that up to 40% of the gene pool in Brazil is of Jewish origin. The "Portuguese Jews" in Europe were actually Spanish Jews who had been expelled from Portugal. Excuse me for many errors committed by the automatic editing device on my phone, which insists on converting English into Portuguese.

There was a great exhibition at the New York Art Society a few years ago. Self-portraits of Early American Jewish families.

Leggo!

There were Jews in Latin America at least by 1520. I know because my family was among them.

I love learning about the lesser known details about American history. And this makes want to learn more about Judaism in other historical periods. Great vid!

What great history. Makes me proud to be an American as imperfect as we are.

Would you be able to name a couple Jewish board members for the Dutch East India Company?

A history of Jews in the Dutch West India Company is a video I did not know I needed.

@Samaronow I have a few books on Jewish History and they cost me a lot. Each time I watch one of your videos I feel you have the topic well covered, way better in fact… Can you please do the Jewish history in Australia. I believe the first fleet had Jewish people and convicts and free settlers came from then. Many great Australians, Judges Governor Generals Isaac Isaacs and our Greatest General in the GW Sir John Monash. Many politicians like the current Treasurer Josh Freydenberg and businessmen are worth mentioning; Frank Lowy, Harry Triguboff to name a few and many more. I’m sure that you’d find many nuances and something completely unheard of … like Australia’s faults look at pre war refugees and our points of praise.

Thanks Sam for another great video, very interesting. I guess next video will be napoleonic Europe?

Francis Salvador of South Carolina, I've read, was the first Jewish person to be elected to a legislature anywhere.

I’m happy that you actually linked. A source lol. I’ve been waiting for a while. :)

@SamAronow

2 жыл бұрын

I've been linking to sources for years.

4:00 Delaware - 'New Sweden link', could explain a lot current state of affairs :)

@PearlmanYeC

2 жыл бұрын

Nice presentation, shared, subscribed.

The way you say your 'a's in all your video, eg Lasting, Vast, After, is really strange for an American, is this some regional dialect that I don't know about? :)

I've watched a lot of your videos with great interest. I've had questions before but now I must ask: What do you find interesting or important about the lack of a rabbi among the Jewish community in colonial America?

@andrewsuryali8540

2 жыл бұрын

During this period in history rabbinates were not just the religious leadership but also the actual recognized legal and political authority for the Jewish communities as perceived by secular and religious authorities in Europe AND the Middle East. All European and Muslim states in this period talked to their Jewish citizens through the rabbinate. Therefore, the experience of American Jews was unique in that there was no possible form of communal representation for them under the Old World model, yet they did exist and did (sort of) have a voice independent of the traditional system.

@SamAronow

2 жыл бұрын

@@andrewsuryali8540 Exactly. Even now, when Jewish emancipation is the norm worldwide, the US, Canada, and Australia are alone in having no rabbinates of their own; each synagogue is its own supreme authority. And although the vast, vast majority of American Jews today do not descend from these colonists, the absence of a rabbinate has had enormous consequences for how Judaism has evolved in the New World.

@andrewsuryali8540

2 жыл бұрын

@@SamAronow Even more special when you remember that Kaifeng Jews isolated all the way in China had their own rabbis.

Nice use of the March of the Ceremony of the Turks! Impeccable choice of music.

Is Jos. Simon's clan a serious omission or am I wrong in thinking the Lancaster branch was more important than they actually were?

@SamAronow

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, the Lancaster community was the smallest of this era by far and didn’t last very long. I always have to make editorial decisions about what gets included in these, and this time Lancaster was one of those.

i would love to see a video about Sephardic Jews of the Caribbean

There’s some evidence that there was a rabbi in KKBE in Charleston before the revolution named Moses Cohen.

Some goods could and were made in the colonies but these were very limited. Whale oil candles, rum from molasses and other goods that did not come from England and were not subject to the navigation acts which set the prices the colonists could get from British merchants or put a surtax on goods they sold to other nations and prevented the colonies from buying manufactured good from anywhere than Britian. The British goverment took a share of these transactions.

I left all my books in Brazil when I moved to Portugal several years ago, so that I will opine here without citing sources. The history of Jews in Brazil is fascinating and known to very few. Portugal was a small country of perhaps one million people at the beginning of the age of navigations and discoveries. There had been a relatively small Jewish community there for centuries. When Spain expelled the Jews in 1492, many fled overland to Portugal. At one point, they apparently constituted around 20% of Portugal's population. The Portuguese King, Dom Manuel decided to marry a Spanish princess, and one of the conditions was that he should expell all the Jews from Portugal. Só he did. When he saw the enormous

Latinos and Jews. You never hear about them in the early days of America but they were here.

All my life I've heard about the Sheftall family of Savannah, my hometown. Without the Sheftall family and many other Jews and their sacrifices there may not have been an America.