Shalom to my Bnai Shalom family!
Before I dive into my message for this month's Bulletin, I want to express my deepest thanks for the vote of confidence at our Annual Meeting. I am honored to have extended my contract with Congregation Bnai Shalom and I look forward to many more Shabbatot, holidays, life-cycle events, and community gatherings in the coming five years!
Now… Communities across the country have been commemorating the events that led to American independence for over a year, beginning on April 19, 2025, when Lexington and Concord held their annual reenactments of the first skirmishes of the Revolutionary War. And on July 4th, we will mark the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the formal beginning of our journey as a country.
In 1790, President George Washington visited the State of Rhode Island to mark its ratification of the Constitution and to promote the Bill of Rights. While there, he met with a variety of clergy, including Moses Seixas, the warden of Newport's Touro Synagogue, now the oldest surviving synagogue in North America. Following the visit, Seixas wrote to Washington, and Washington responded with his now-famous letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, which you can read on page 3.
This letter from Washington was extraordinary. It elevated the commitment of the newly-formed United States to more than just tolerance of different religions. Instead, he stated that our country was founded on the principle of "liberty of conscience", the novel idea that each person has the right to choose their own religious expression… or to not choose any religious expression at all. It eloquently expressed the United States' dedication to the separation of church and state, and it has been cited in at least three Supreme Court cases involving religious liberty.
The Bill of Rights had not yet been ratified, but Washington's public letter left no doubt that the religious freedoms and protections afforded to Christian denominations would be equally extended to all Americans, including people like the Jews, whose beliefs differed from those of the majority. It unequivocally communicated that this new, young government would neither stifle nor interfere with an individual's religious beliefs, traditions or practice.
As we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence this July 4th, let us also remember the significance of Washington's visit to Rhode Island in 1790 and the role played by that small Jewish congregation in helping define one of our most cherished ideals, what is often called our "First Freedom": each person is free to worship, or not to worship at all, according to the dictates of their own conscience.
Happy 250th birthday to all of us!
Kol Tuv – All the best!
Rabbi Adrienne :)
Rabbi@bnaishalomeaston.org
Cell Phone: 609-577-6842
President George Washington's Letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island
Gentlemen.
While I receive, with much satisfaction, your Address replete with expressions of affection and esteem; I rejoice in the opportunity of assuring you that I shall always retain a grateful remembrance of the cordial welcome I experienced in my visit to Newport, from all classes of Citizens.
The reflection on the days of difficulty and danger which are past is rendered the more sweet, from a consciousness that they are succeeded by days of uncommon prosperity and security. If we have wisdom to make the best use of the advantages with which we are now favored, we cannot fail, under the just administration of a good Government, to become a great and a happy people.
The Citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy: a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.
It would be inconsistent with the frankness of my character not to avow that I am pleased with your favorable opinion of my Administration, and fervent wishes for my felicity. May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid. May the father of all mercies scatter light and not darkness in our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in his own due time and way everlastingly happy.
President George Washington
Wednesday, August 18, 1790
SERVING THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF EASTON SINCE 1839