America's First Synagogues

Description

This film tells the story of the Jewish pilgrims who founded Congregation Shearith Israel-a "Remnant of Israel"-in 1654 in the Dutch trading post of New Amsterdam, modern day New York City. Shearith Israel's sister congregation, Touro Synagogue in Newport, RI, was built in 1763 and is the oldest continual Jewish house of worship in the U.S. Woven through this tale are Haym Solomon, who helped finance the American Revolution; Uriah Levy, the Naval Commodore who saved Thomas Jefferson's Monticello from ruin; and Emma Lazarus, whose poetry captured the dreams of millions of immigrants to America. Viewers will also learn about the history of Sephardic Jews who fled to the New World to escape the Spanish Inquisition, and how the independent synagogue worship system developed in ancient Babylon.

Runtime

45 min 38 sec

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