Jewish Americans

If you think Jewish People have not been apart of the United States of America since the very beginning (250 years ago) think again.

During the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) 160 Jews (out of a Population of 3,000) joined George Washington’s Military.

Francis Salvador, a 29 year Jewish Man, was the first Jewish Person to die for the American Cause in August 1776.

The US Constitution, written in 1787, allows the Freedom of Religion.

Jewish People (along with Catholics, Protestants, etc.) have always had the right to practice their Religion freely and openly in the US.

In 1790, Moses Seixas of the Touro Synagogue in Rhode Island wrote to President George Washington praising and thanking him for the right to practice his Religion (which was denied to everyone else outside of the United States at the time.)

Washington wrote Seixas the following back: “the US Government gives to bigotry no sanction to persecution no assistance.”

At the start of the US Civil War in 1861 US Law only allowed Christian Clergy to serve as Military Chaplains.

The Jewish Community, wanting to show their Patriotism to the United States, protested and launched a Nationwide Petition to change that Law.

In 1862, Rabbi Jacob Frankel became the first Non-Christian US Army Chaplain (in the Union Army.)

7,000 American Jews served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

There were 4 Jewish Generals in the Union Military during the Civil War.

In 1883, 34 year old American-Born Jewish Woman, Emmas Lazarus, wrote the “New Colossus” Poem that is at the base of the Statue of Liberty.

The Poem’s most famous section: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free….” has been the cornerstone of the American Dream for Millions over the Centuries.

During World War 2 (1941-1945) American Jews fought in all the Theaters of War (Europe, North America, South America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, Australia and the Pacific.)

550,000 Jewish Men and Women served in the US Military and 52,000 of them received Military Awards for their Bravery.

Major General Maurice Rose (who was an American-Jew) fought in both World War 1 and World War 2. He became the Highest-Ranking American killed by the Enemy in Europe when he was killed in Germany in March 1945.

Albert Einstein, a German-Born Jew who became and American Citizen in 1940, is regarded as the Father of Modern Physics.

J. Robert Oppenheimer, an American Jew, was the Director of the Manhattan Project and if known as the Father of the Atomic Bomb.

150,000 Jewish Americans fought in the US Military during the Korean War (1950-1953.)

When Black Americans fought for equal Civil Rights in the 1950s and 1960s Jewish Americans fought alongside them.

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Herschel marched arm-in-arm with Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Alabama in 1965.

30,000 Jewish Americans fought in the US Military during the Vietnam War (1965-1973.)

8,000 Jewish Americans fought in the US Military during the 1^st Iraq War (1990-1991.)

10,000 Jewish Americans fought in the US Military during the 2^nd Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan (2001-2021.)

As you can see Jewish Americans have been an integral part of the United States of America for the past 250 years.