d’var torah
A Revolution in Jewish History: The
Meaning of 1776 in Jewish History
Rabbi Lance J. Sussman
I Parshat Behar-Bechukotai
n just three years, the United States
will observe the 250th anniversary of
the American Revolution. In my view,
the American Revolution not only led to
the creation of the United States but was
also a “revolution” in Jewish history.

For the first time in Jewish history
since the destruction of Jerusalem by
the Romans in 70 C.E., Jews were fully
enfranchised as citizens and no longer
were either subjects of the realm or alien
residents. In many ways, the Liberty
Bell, whose inscription, “Proclaim liberty
throughout the land,” (Leviticus 25:10)
instantly became a symbol of the new
nation and its revolutionary character.

limited. Because of the teachings of the
Enlightenment, the distance between
the colonies and the homeland, associ-
ation of Jews with the white majority
and the willingness of American Jews to
stand up for their rights, the civic status
of Jews began to improve dramatically
by the middle of the 18th century.

One of the first signs of the changing
position of Jews in Colonial America
was the willingness of a group of Jewish
businessmen to sign a letter of protest
against the Non-Importation Resolutions
in 1765. Although they later split between
Tories and Whigs, the group made a
bold statement not only about British tax
policies but also about the place of Jews
in American society.

By 1774, an American Jew, Frances
Salvador of Charleston, South Carolina,
already held public office in that colony
newspapers urging the enfranchisement
of Jews, which was finally achieved with
the adoption the new Constitution. To
celebrate the Constitution’s ratification, a
federal parade was held in Philadelphia
in 1788 with a rabbi joining other clergy
at the front of the procession.

Finally, two years later in 1790,
President George Washington penned
his now-famous letter to the Jewish
community of Newport, Rhode Island,
declaring that the United States would
give “to bigotry no sanction, to persecu-
tion no assistance.” Finally, after centu-
ries of marginalization and persecution,
a Jewish community could embrace the
message inscribed on the Liberty Bell
that liberty had been proclaimed “for all
the inhabitants thereof.”
Grateful for their new status as citizens,
American Jews then commenced with
the work necessary to expand the
meaning of religious liberty in their new
country and boldly fight the enduring
scourge of antisemitism. ■
Lance J. Sussman is the rabbi emeri-
tus of Reform Congregation Keneseth
Israel in Elkins Park and immediate
past chair of the board of governors at
Gratz College. The Board of Rabbis of
Greater Philadelphia is proud to provide
diverse perspectives on Torah commen-
tary for the Jewish Exponent. The
opinions expressed in this column are
the author’s own and do not necessarily
reflect the view of the Board of Rabbis.

Grateful for their new status as citizens,
American Jews then commenced with the
work necessary to expand the meaning of
religious liberty.

Originally part of the Torah’s discus-
sion of the manumission of slaves at
the Jubilee in this week’s portion, the
verse was reimagined as a statement
about “liberty” from the perspective of
18th-century political philosophy. For
American Jews, it helped to codify their
new civil status as “equals under law” in
the new nation.

Prior to the Revolution, American
Jews lived under the law of each of
the 13 colonies and the imperial laws
of Great Britain. Jews were expelled
from England in 1290 and were only
readmitted in the 1650s. For the most
part, their rights were limited and they
could not vote or hold public office. It
took two centuries before a British Jew
was elected to Parliament.

For Jews, the legal situation in France,
Germany and other places was also
and, two years later, became both the
first Jew to hold elected office in the
United States and was the first Jew to
die in combat in defense of the new
nation. During the war, as many as two
dozen Jews served as officers with
George Washington, including several
from Philadelphia. It was unprecedented
for Jews to be found in such high military
circles anywhere else in the world.

On the political front, American
Jews were also active in securing
their civil rights. Under the Articles of
Confederation, the states had the right
to determine who was eligible to hold
public office. Most of the states, includ-
ing Pennsylvania, required elected
officials to be Christian. Beginning in
1783, a committee at Philadelphia’s
Mikveh Israel studied all 13 state consti-
tutions and then wrote letters to various
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