Summary
IN 1795, SOLOMON SIMSON, A PROMINENT MEMBER OF NEW YORK'S JEWISH COMMUNITY, addressed a letter to the Jews of China. Describing the status of New York Jewry, he wrote: "We here in America in New York and other places live in great tranquility. Jews sit in judgment in civil and in criminal cases just as do Gentiles."
"In a free and independent coun- try like America, where civil and religious freedom go hand in hand, where no distinctions exist between the clergy of different denominations," they wrote, "where in short we enjoy all the blessings of freedom in common with our fellow citizens, you may readily conceive we pride ourselves under the happy situation which makes us feel we are men, susceptible of that dignity which belongs to human nature, by participating in all the rights and blessings of this happy country."Jews have paid a high price for their freedom in America - perhaps because so many Jews have viewed it as "freedom from" rather than "freedom to" practice Judaism.See the full content of this document
Extract
For Jews in America, Freedom in Stages
IN 1795, SOLOMON SIMSON, A PROMINENT MEMBER OF NEW YORK'S JEWISH COMMUNITY, addressed a letter to the Jews of China. Describing the status of New York Jewry, he wrote: "We here in America in New York and other places live in great tranquility. Jews sit in judgment i...
See the full content of this document
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