In August of 1790, George Washington sailed into Newport, Rhode Island.

The backstory to that trip is fascinating. The Constitution had already been accepted by the other twelve states, but Rhode Island resisted joining the Union. Many there feared that this new federal government would swallow up their small state and their independence.

Washington wanted all thirteen states together. He wanted the new country to begin with unanimous consent, not only with a majority. He promised Rhode Island that if they ratified the Constitution, he would personally come for an official visit.

Waiting in Newport was a small Jewish community.

For them, this was not just a presidential visit. This was a moment of uncertainty. The Jews had lived through enough history to know that when a new government rises, Jews need to know where they stand.

They had heard all the talk about liberty and equality. But was it real? Would they be accepted here long term as truly equal citizens? Or would they be tolerated for now, only to be pushed aside later?

Would America become another country where Jews were welcome as long as they remained quiet, useful, and not too Jewish?

So Moses Seixas, the leader of the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, wrote a letter to President Washington. The synagogue, known today as Touro Synagogue, is the oldest surviving synagogue building in the United States.

Seixas wrote with “a deep sense of gratitude to the Almighty,” and thanked this new government for “generously affording to all liberty of conscience, and immunities of citizenship.”

It’s a beautiful letter. But as you read it, you can also hear the mindset of a people who had spent centuries depending on the kindness of rulers. Seixas was thanking the government for “generously affording” them freedom. He was hoping that unlike other countries, where Jews were merely tolerated, here they would truly become equal members of this new brotherhood.

Washington wrote back with one of the most important responses in American Jewish history, including the famous words that the United States gives “to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.”

But there is another key theme in the letter that we need to notice.

The Jews were asking if this new government would accept them........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)