The Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. [50], No. [1], Ed. 1 Thursday, April 7, 1955 Page: 4 of 56
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F
BETWEEN YOU AND ME
V
By CHARLES SEGAL
I
€3
(Obverse)
(Reverse)
Hebraic Origin of The Great Seal of The United States
49th ANNIVERSARY-PASSOVER EDITION
PACE 2
■
tylai&JiacJi Am&ucaH. eMutantf
First American Jews Gain Citizenship
Th* pioneers in Old New York stand for their rights to defend their
country and their homes. This flashback is especially timely in view of
Houston's observance of this auspicious occasion on Sunday, April 24th
at the Music Hall with Maryland's Governor McKeldin the speaker.
€)
fight for freedom vital to its own
aspirations for equal rights so
long denied by the esty Chief
Executive of local government.
The people here are very much
conscious of the fact that the
Dutch Reformed Church is still
community. Relentlessly, they
fought against negative accept-
ance while Governor Stuyves-
ant, equally persistent in his
opposition to the Jews, sought
to deny their pleas.
On setting foot upon the soil
of New Amsterdam, the Jews had
to fight for the right to live here.
They had to fight for the right
to own property and to trade and
travel in the New Netherland
domain. They had to fight for the
right to defend their homes in
common with other citizens.
Each time the Jews presented
a petition, Governor Stuyvesant
turned it down. Each time the
Jews appealed to the Dutch West
India Company in Holland, Gov-
ernor Stuyvesant was overruled
and the Jews emerged victors.
The cosmopolitan population of
New Amsterdam has watched
these proceedings with rapt at-
tention. It regards the Jewish
ldedd
i t j j i i -
MoqUXM1
the official religious institution in the volume by Joshua Trachten-
the colony and that no dissenting berg . . • Current movements in
faith can be practiced publicly, the religious life of American
This situation is unlike that in the Jewry are dealt with by Jacob
West Indies and Guiana, where Agus . . . And the impact of
the people enjoy considerably American Jewry on Jewish life
more liberty than they do here. Continued on Page 48
by BORIS SMOLAR
Communal Trends:
About two-thirds of the pres-
ent Jewish population of the Unit-
ed States is American-born . . .
In 20 years from now the foreign-
born Jews will be a very small
fraction of the adult Jewish popu-
lation . . . The foreign-born group
under the age of 45 consists main-
ly of immigrants who have been
educated in American public
schools and who resemble native-
born Jews in their general out-
look ... Of the estimated
5,000,000 Jews in the United
ters and meaning “one out of
many.” The eagle, another bibli-
cal symbol, holds in one of his
talons an olive branch with 13
leaves, and in the other, 13 ar-
rows. Our flag, covering the
eagle’s body, has 13 bars—seven
standing out as in the seven-
branched candlestick.
On the reverse side of the Seal
we find the pyramid, rising in a
wilderness and built in 13 layers
of stone. Above it, in the head-
stone, is the all-seeing Eye of
God. The words Annuit Coeptis
—meaning “He hath prospered
our beginning,” and again in 13
letters—are written over the pyra-
mid. Below it we find: uNovus
Ordo Seclorum, meaning “An old
order of the ages born anew.”
The Founding Fathers considered
the Hebrew Republic one of the
old orders of the ages.
States, close to 50 percent live in
New York City and within a
radius of 25 miles from Manhat-
tan . . . Another 30 percent live
in 10 other large cities . . . There
are about 200 cities in the U. S.
with 100 to 1,000 Jewish inhabi-
tants . . . About 1,300,000 Jews
are regular contributors to vari-
ous Jewish funds . . . One-third
or more of the adult Jewish popu-
lation is not formally affiliated
with religious or secular Jewish
organizations . . . The proportion
may be greater in New’ York and
in several other of the largest
cities . . . However, some of them
are among the intermittent con-
tributors to Jewish philanthropic
causes or otherwise indicate their
feelings of belonging to the Jew-
ish group . . . There are now
approximately 4,000 Jewish con-
gregations in the United States
. . . The Conservative congrega-
tions claim a membership of
150,000 families . . . The Re-
form temples indicate a member-
ship of 100,000 families . . . The
Union of Orthodox Jewish Con-
gregations has a membership of
100,000 families . . . However,
there are also many small Ortho-
dox congregations that are not
affiliated with the Union and
have a membership of 100,000
families . . . And there are also
about 250,000 Jews and their
families who buy seats in syna-
gogues for the High Holy Days
alone . . . Thus, it is estimated
that approximately 40 percent of
the entire Jewish population of
the U. S. has some affiliation
with a synagogue . . . The re-
maining 60 percent would appear
to be completely outside the
synagogue . . . All these facts are
culled from Harry Lurie’s very
interesting study of Jewish com-
munal life in the U. S. published
in the fourth volume of “The Jew-
ish People: Past and Present” just
issued by Jewish Encyclopedia
Handbooks in New York . . . The
440-page volume also carries a
very interesting study of the his-
tory of the Jews in this country’
by Anita Libman Lebeson . . .
There is also a basic study on the
Yiddish literature, press and the-
atre by the noted Jewish critic
Samuel Niger . . . Also an essay
on Hebrew literature and the
press by J. K. Mikliszanski . . .
Main currents in Jewish scholar-
ship in America are analyzed in
NEW AMSTERDAM, New
Netherlands, April 1657—Local
Jews this month were admitted
to citizenship by Governor Peter
Stuyvesant and the City Council.
Since the establishment of the
Jewish community here in
September, 1654, the Jews have
carried on a consistent fight for
religious and civil rights in spite
of Governor Stuyvesant’s open
hostility to their petitions. The
winning of the “burgher right”
by Jews, therefore, constitutes a
major victory.
According to the record, dated
April 11, 1657:
uAsser Levy, a Jew, appears
in Court; requests to be ad-
mitted a Burgher; claims that
such ought not be refused him
as he keeps watch and ward
(tocht en wacht) like other
Burghers; showing a Burgher
certificate from the City of
Amsterdam that the Jew is
Burgher there. Which being
deliberated on, it is decreed, as
before, that it cannot be al-
lowed, and he shall apply to
the Director General and
Council.”
For 10 days, pressure was
brought to bear on Governor
Stuyvesant and the Council to
approve the Jewish petition for
the “burgher right.” Then, on
April 20, a new petition was pre-
sented to the authorities, signed
by Salvador Dandrada, Jacob
Cohen Henriques, Abraham de-
Lucena and Joseph d'Acosta.
The second petition noted with
“great surprise” the rejection of
Levy’s application, and pointed
out that on Feb. 15, 1655, the
Directors of the Dutch West In-
dia Company in Holland had writ-
ten Stuyvesant that Jews in New
Amsterdam should be given the
“same freedom as other inhabi-
tants.” The Governor was remind-
ed that Jews in Amsterdam enjoy
the “burgher right” and that the
local Jews, like other residents of
the colony, seek to share both the
responsibilities and the opportuni-
ties that life in the New World
holds out for all its inhabitants.
“We, therefore, reverently re-
quest your Noble Worships to
please not exclude nor shut us out
from the burgher right,” the peti-
tion states. On April 20th, Gov-
ernor Stuyvesant, Nicasius and
Pieter Tonneman decree:
Thus, the milestone is
achieved. Since the first 23
Jews arrived here from Recief,
Brazil, in September 1654,
they have sought to achieve the
status of full equality in the
The Bible as linked with the
history of the children of Israel
was the motivating force that in-
spired the framers of our Consti-
tution and the designers of the
Great Seal of the United States
pictured above. All the symbols
in both the reverse and obverse
of the Seal have biblical signifi-
cance. The number 13, usually
accepted as being unlucky, plays
a dominant factor. Though this
may be partially based on the
fact that there were 13 original
states, the reasons go deeper than
that. Eachad (“one” for God) in
Hebrew numerically adds up to
13. Also, ancient Israel was com-
posed of 13 tribes, counting the
two sons of Joseph.
On the obverse side of the seal,
besides the 13 stars forming a
perfect Magen David, we find the
words E Plurubus Unum, 13 let-
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White, D. H. The Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. [50], No. [1], Ed. 1 Thursday, April 7, 1955, newspaper, April 7, 1955; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1527482/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .