295th Anniversary of the Founding of New York City's First Synagogue

The Lower Manhattan Historical Association, in conjunction with the Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York and its Fraunces Tavern Museum, the Sephardi Federation, the Temple of Universal Judaism, the Bowling Green Association, The Museum of Jewish Heritage -  A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, the Chinatown Partnership, the Chinatown Business Improvement District, The American Historical Association in the State of New York, The New York Board of Rabbis, cultureNOW, and the Jewish Learning Experience is commemorating the founding of New York City’s (and North America’s) first temple.

On the seventh day of Passover April 8, 1730 the nascent Jewish community of New York City consecrated the Mill Street Synagogue at what today is 26 South William Street. Congregation Shearith Israel which was has long since moved to the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The history of the Jewish communities in New York and its first native born Jewish leader, the most dedicated and influential Hazzan, Gershom Mendes Seixas, is well documented. In addition to his contributions to the Revolutionary War effort, he was also a trustee of Kings College and participated in George Washington’s Inauguration. The street was co-named Seixas Way on April 8,2019. In August 2019 a plaque was installed at 22 South William Street to commemorate the Mill Street Synagogue. It is, therefore, our intention to raise the community’s awareness regarding the important contribution of Seixas and his congregation to the rise of New York as that most cosmopolitan of American cities.

The ceremony will involve the presentation of the Gershom Mendes Seixas Religious Freedom Award to the Rabbi Nissi Eber, The Jewish Learning Experience who has fostered Rabbi Seixas’ ideals of religious freedom.

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