← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · londo
Thread ID: 14986 | Posts: 3 | Started: 2004-09-13
2004-09-13 04:50 | User Profile
U.S. to Mark Jewish Immigrants' Arrival
Sun Sep 12, 4:04 PM ET
By VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - They were only "23 souls, big and small," exhausted after surviving storms and pirates on the high seas.
Those five words in an early Dutch document describe America's first Jews, who had fled persecution in Brazil. They were captured by buccaneers in the Caribbean before a French ship, the St. Catherine, rescued them and brought them to what is now New York.
The exact day the ship docked is unclear, but the document dated Sept. 7, 1654, mentions the 23 men, women and children who stepped off the St. Catherine, starting Jewish history in America.
In the coming months across the United States, which now has about 6 million Jewish residents, the 350th anniversary of the refugees' landing is being observed with lectures, exhibits and gatherings.
The Library of Congress (news - web sites) is hosting an exhibit on Jewish life called "From Haven to Home." The National Foundation for Jewish Culture will recognize Jewish talent behind about 100 movies, from the Marx Brothers' "Duck Soup" to Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List."
[url=http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040912/ap_en_ot/america_s_first_jews] Read the rest here. [/url]
2004-09-13 14:07 | User Profile
[I]"Separation of church and state?!?"[/I]
Always. But [I]never[/I] any separation of [I]synagogue[/I] and state. [I]That[/I] would be [I]anti-semitism[/I], you see.
2004-09-13 14:45 | User Profile
[QUOTE=londo] In the coming months across the United States, which now has about 6 million Jewish residents, the 350th anniversary of the refugees' landing is being observed with lectures, exhibits and gatherings. [/QUOTE] Just for the record, Israel has a little over 6 million people total, of which approximately 5 million are Jews. Perhaps the US is the real Jewish 'homeland.'