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The revered September 15, 1790 issue of the Gazette of the United States. The back story…
July 1, 2024 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
We are very proud to offer the most significant American newspaper with Jewish content, in which Washington assured the congregation of the Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, that the United States “…gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance…”, perhaps the more famous utterance by a President in the establishment of religious freedom.
The newspaper is the “Gazette Of The United States” dated September 15, 1790, published in New York at the time. To fully appreciate its significance, we offer the following “back story” to this issue containing both Seixas’ letter of welcome to Washington,
and Washington’s response to the congregation of the Touro Synagogue.
Upon his election as President, many churches, congregations, and religious societies wrote to George Washington to congratulate him on his new office, and he replied to each of them with personalized messages of thanks for their well-wishes. In his reply to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Washington applauded the people of the United States for rejecting the European practice of religious “toleration,” embracing instead the “large and liberal policy” that religious liberty is a natural right — and not a gift of government — which all citizens are equally free to exercise.
In 1790, George Washington visited Rhode Island to acknowledge the state’s recent ratification of the Constitution and to promote passage of the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution. As was the custom, when Washington visited Newport, he was met by a delegation of citizens, who read messages of welcome. One of those who welcomed Washington was Moses Seixas, the warden of the Touro Synagogue in Newport. Touro is the oldest synagogue building in America and the only one existing from the colonial era. In his welcome, Seixas gave thanks to “the Ancient of Days, the great preserver of men” that the Jews, previously “deprived … of the invaluable rights of free Citizens” on account of their religion, now lived under a government “which to bigotry gives no sanction, to persecution no assistance.”
Washington was moved by Seixas’ letter. The president’s response differentiated between religious toleration and religious liberty, as it specifically applied to American Jews. Washington wrote that Americans “have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy – a policy worthy of imitation . . . It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights.”
Washington’s reply set a significant precedent that separated a more passive practice of tolerance, from the more potent one of liberty. Even the most liberal European states such as the Netherlands had policies that merely tolerated non-Protestants. In alluding to the Bible’s Old Testament, Washington unequivocally called for religious equality for Jews stating that “the Children of the Stock of Abraham . . . shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree.”
Notably, Washington imitated Seixas’s phrasing in his reply in writing that the United States “gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance” requiring only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.” The president’s reply made loyalty to country, as opposed to Protestant allegiance, the prerequisite for religious equality.
This letter was written during Washington’s first term as President and is Washington’s clearest statement of religious tolerance. It is considered a steppingstone for the First Amendment that would come the following year in 1791 and is considered a foundational document establishing Washington’s belief in the separation of church and state.
Snapshot 1973 – Henry Kissinger – 1st ethnic Jew & 1st naturalized U.S. citizen to become Secretary of State…
June 7, 2024 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
When it comes to politics and ethnicity, gender, religion, etc., U.S. firsts are noteworthy. A few which stand out are John F. Kennedy (1st Roman Catholic President), Barack Obama (1st black President), Kamala Harris (1st female and 1st black Vice-President), Antonin Scalia (1st Italian-American Supreme Court Justice), Hiram Revels (1st former slave to serve as a U.S. Senator), etc. The list of such significant milestones is almost endless.
Although it took place during my lifetime, to my loss one failed to capture the attention of my (then) 14-year-old mind. However, thanks to a collector’s request to see if we had coverage of the tragic death of singer-songwriter Jim Croce, my digging within our archives turned up a September 22, 1973 News and Observer (Raleigh, NC) which not only had a report on his death, but also featured the front-page headline: “KISSINGER CONFIRMED IN 78-7 VOTE” – telling of his becoming both the first Jewish-American AND first naturalized citizen to be confirmed as Secretary of State. He was sworn in the following day. Quite historic. Such “finds” are nearly a daily occurrence in the lives of our Rare & Early Newspapers’ staff – just one more reason to love this collectible!
Sometimes We Miss It – Isidor Louis… 1870’s San Diego…
February 7, 2022 by LauraH · Leave a Comment
After 47 years as both a collector and reseller of “Rare & Early” newspapers, you can imagine we have unearthed a ton of historical content. However, Every now and then we are reminded that, “Sometimes we miss it”. Today a customer called after purchasing an issue of The San Diego Union to let us know he found a fascinating ad on the front page of his issue. For those who love 19th century California history, there was an early citizen of Jewish descent who had an enormous entrepreneur’s spirit. Isidor Louis had many irons in the fire and was advertising one of his first ventures on the frontpage of the newspaper. Interestingly, his son later became the city editor for the San Diego Sun. Have we piqued your interest? Do a little investigating of Isidor for yourself. Are you wondering how we had an image of the ad after we had already sold the paper? Perhaps we have uncovered others. As a lesson learned, it always pays to read the fine print … in case we missed it.
Snapshot 1936… It’s time to help the Jews…
February 15, 2021 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
In the midst of rampant anti-Semitism, and just a few years prior to the start of the Holocaust, David Lloyd George, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain, made an impassioned plea for the world to come to the rescue of the Jewish People by providing them with the homeland they had been promised decades earlier. In his speech he reminded the world of how the Jews had come to the aid of England… and the United States… and Russia, and were now in need of a response in kind. Unfortunately his call to action fell on deaf ears and the impact of heads buried in the sand now stands as a black mark on the timeline of history. The following account of his appeal to the House of Commons was found in The Scranton Times dated June 10, 1936:
They Put It In Print… How to hate – 1941…
September 22, 2019 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
As we were searching through our issues from 1941 looking for new WWII content, to our great dismay we discovered a article on page 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle dated November 15th headed: “Goebbels Tells Germans How To Hate Jews”, which was followed by his ten “reasons” to hate them. There are some who wish to ignore and/or deny the existence of the hatred which ran rampant during this time in world history, but thanks to the S.F. Chronicle, they put it in print:
Equal rights – a long and arduous path…
May 6, 2019 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
“Equal Rights” – Within the United States, it is easy to think the struggle for equality based on race, gender and/or socioeconomic status was, and in certain areas continues to be, one placed on the shoulders of only Blacks and Women. However, it doesn’t take too much digging to see this was not the case. I was reminded of this reality when I recently came across a December 19, 1818 issue of the Niles’ Weekly Register. Therein I found a heading titled “Maryland legislature,” which included in part, “…A committee was appointed to bring in a bill to extend the same civil privileges to persons professing the Jewish religion as are enjoyed by those of any other religious sect…”.
As a bit of history, In 1776 Maryland’s constitution safely protected “…all persons professing the Christian religion…” yet said nothing at all for those of other beliefs. It was a fact not widely known among other Americans that in the State of Maryland, and in Maryland alone, a citizen professing the Jewish religion could not hold any office, civil or military. In 1797 Solomon Etting, Baltimore leader and representative Jewish figure, along with other prominent Jews petitioned the Maryland Assembly to address this prejudicial issue and secure equal rights for Jews. The petition was well received but ultimately rejected. Year after year as it was presented and turned down new advocates were enlisted including influential Gentiles. In 1818 Judge H. M. Brackenridge and others began a vigorous battle to right this wrong. The legislation ultimately to be known as “The Jew Bill” was enfranchised in 1825 and confirmed the following year. This change, along with a series of others, helped motivate many Jewish citizens to participate, from a position of privilege, in the early suffrage movement.
Regarding State and National Constitutions… Our fore(parents) may not have gotten everything right, but thankfully, in most cases, they had the foresight to created peaceful paths for change. Peaceful progress, using the proper channels the framers built within these founding documents, may take entirely too long, but staying within the given bounds has served us well over time. There is, and will likely always be much to be done, but we live in a marvelous land of progress. Let’s never let the need for pruning and continued growth ever cause us to hack away at the roots.
December thru time (50, 100, 150, 200, & 250 years ago) – 2018 edition…
December 6, 2018 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
What news was reported in the month of December – 50 (1958), 100 (1918), 150 (1868), 200 (1818), and 250 (1768) years ago? Such a walk back through time via the eyes of those who read the daily and weekly newspapers of the period can be quite revealing. This is why we often say, “History is never more fascinating than when it’s read from the day it was first reported.” The following links will take you back in time to show the available newspapers from the Rare & Early newspapers website. There’s no need to buy a thing. Simply enjoy the stroll.
Israeli Statehood – You can learn something new every day…
July 9, 2018 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Which major power was the first to recognize the Statehood of Israel? Perhaps it was my arrogance, naivety, or a blend of both which led me to believe the United States would hold this position, but the err in my thinking was brought to light as I read a front page article in The Raleigh Times (May 18, 1948), which revealed that although the U.S. was the first to do so vocally, the first country to formally recognize Israeli Statehood was Russia. As a matter of fact, Venezuela, Romania, France, and a host of other countries formalized their recognition before the United States, who didn’t do so formally until the end of January – nearly 9 months later. If this were the Olympics, the United States, holding the 20th position, would be in the stands watching Russia, the Czech Republic, and Nicaragua receive their medals on the victor’s stand.
Rare Judaica Collectibles Spanning Three Centuries – 1600’s, 1700’s, & 1800’s…
June 27, 2018 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Although we rarely use this forum to highlight items being offered for sale – especially when posted as auction items, however all three authentic publications are rather unique and highly desirable:
1670 – The Jews Are Banished From Vienna (Austria)
1778 – A Rare Print from the inside of the Synagogue at Amsterdam showing the celebration of Rosh Hashanah – “The Sounding of the Ram’s Horn” (note: we’d love to know which synagogue is shown)
From their ongoing quest to be accepted, to full acceptance demonstrated through their response to tragedy, with a rare, intimate, and illustrated look at one of their holy days sandwiched in-between, this set of issues certainly provides a broad-brush perspective of a people whose mark on history far surpasses their size. While the links above will expire once the auctions have ended, the links below will remain active indefinitely. Enjoy.
- The Jews are banished from Vienna (Austria)… THE LONDON GAZETTE, England, July 28, 1670
- A significant & rare Judaica print… Synagogue at Amsterdam… THE GENTLEMAN’S MAGAZINE, London, May, 1778
- Congregation Shearith Israel mourns… Lincoln’s funeral… NEW YORK TRIBUNE, April 21, 1865
The Haggadah (during Passover) – 1st mention in a New York Times…
May 24, 2018 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
I know I’ve said it before, but I absolutely love this hobby. Today, thinking about the Damascus Blood Libel from back in the 184o, which prompted The London Times to print the details of the Jewish practice during The Passover Celebration – The Haggadah, they printed the details of the ritual (event/meal). This caused us to wonder if any other publication printed similar details. We were astounded to learn that the first time The Haggadah was mentioned in the New York Times did not occur until nearly 40 years later. The full details of this report (which includes details regarding addition Jewish celebrations (and special days) may be viewed at: NY Times – Jewish Festivals
If a reader knows of another nationally distributed newspaper which included similar details, please let us know.