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When residents
and visitors tour the Independence
National Historical Park site,
they will see its usual displays
about the revolution. But at
the end of the tour, they also
will see a new exhibit about
Colonial-era Jews.

“We want everyone in
America to come here and see
a piece of themselves in the
Revolution,” Turdo said. “It
really does belong to everyone.”
Brothers Barnard and
Michael Gratz, whose descen-
dants went on to found Gratz
College in Philadelphia, are
at the center of the exhibit.

The Philadelphia siblings were
merchants with dealings all
over the Atlantic world in
everything from deer skins to
candles, according to Turdo.

They also brought the
Jewish community in the
region closer together, a
museum news release said.

The brothers built Mikveh
Israel, which still stands, and
connected with Joseph Simon
in Lancaster, who possessed
one of the first Torah sets in
North America. Michael Gratz
went on to marry Simon’s
daughter, Miriam.

In the 1760s, the brothers
“publicly protested British
taxation” and signed the
Non-Importation Agreement
that prevented commerce
with Britain, the release said.

During the Revolutionary War,
they used their businesses to
supply the Continental Army
with materials.

Later, they successfully
petitioned Pennsylvania to
drop the requirement that
General Assembly candidates
be Christian.

The exhibit shows artifacts
from these activities, including
portraits of the brothers,
Simon’s Torah ark and Michael
Gratz’s business notebook.

“Very active, very engaged
and, during the revolution,
very patriotic,” said Turdo of
the Colonial-era Jewish leaders.

JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Joseph Simon’s Torah ark
from the Colonial era, donated
to the Museum of the American
Revolution by Mikveh Israel
“It’s a very small number to be
that engaged.”
The museum regularly
assembles special exhibits like
this, Turdo said.

Past displays have paid
homage to the Davenport
family and to the forgotten
history of women voting in
New Jersey elections between
1776 and 1807 — before they
lost the right to vote.

“We can grow the under-
standing of, what does the
Revolution mean, and whose
revolution is it?” Turdo said.

The Jewish exhibit started
with a loan of Barnard
Gratz’s portrait from a private
collector. After that, museum
leaders worked to turn the
single item into a full-fledged
display. Between the museum’s
existing collection
and additional loans, it secured
more than 400 original items.

The Rosenbach,
a Philadelphia museum that
showcases rare
books, manuscripts and art, donated
the portrait of Michael Gratz
A Gratz pocket almanac Courtesy of the Museum of the American Revolution
the United States,” Gabbai said. case — contains a bit of wisdom
Gabbai even argued that that is also in the Talmud.

The Constitutions of the Several
“Many Jews who were here
Jewish leaders played an
Independent States of America
Courtesy of the Museum of important role in the discourse were talking to the adopters
the American Revolution
around the framing of the of the Constitution,” he said.

Constitution. He said that the “So no doubt Jewish ideas were
Fifth Amendment in partic- present.” l
ular — when it states that no
and the state constitutions person can act as a witness jsaffren@jewishexponent.com;
that Barnard Gratz reviewed against himself in a criminal 215-832-0740
as he lobbied Pennsylvania to
allow Jewish representation.

Mikveh Israel gave the Torah
ark from Joseph Simon.

“It’s important for the world
to know that even before the
American Revolution, there
was a Jewish presence,” Mikveh
Exclusive Women’s Apparel Boutique
Israel Rabbi Albert Gabbai said.

“And that the Jewish presence
contributed very much.”
As Gabbai explained, there’s
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a perception that Jews came
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to America between the 1880s
and 1920s. Millions of Jews
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in the U.S. started in the
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Mikveh Israel’s commu-
nity formed in Philadelphia
61 Buck Road
36 years before the revolu-
tion, Gabbai said. The first
Huntingdon Valley,
synagogue building in the
PA 19006
American colonies opened in
1763 in Rhode Island. And,
www.elanaboutique.com as the exhibit shows, Jews
(215)953-8820 played a role in the revolution
and in the formation of the
United States.

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JEWISH EXPONENT
DECEMBER 16, 2021
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