CELEBRATION OF 350th ANNIVERSARY OF JEWISH TRADITION AND HERITAGE IN THE UNITED STATES AND JEWISH HISTORY ON STATEN ISLAND, SUNDAY OCT. 24 2004*
The history of the Jewish community in any particular place often begins with the community being expelled from someplace else. That is indeed how the story of the Jews in America begins.
In 1654, when the Portuguese retook the colony of Recife, Brazil, from the Dutch, the Jewish community were shown the door. Just 23 of those men, women and children survived the sea, pirates and shipwreck to land in another Dutch-ruled land, New Amsterdam. If not exactly welcomed in the city that would become New York, they were at least tolerated.
John Guild, Executive Director, Historic Richmond Town
The 350th anniversary of those first Jewish arrivals, and the contributions since then of a community some 5 million strong in the United States, were celebrated on Oct 24, at Historic Richmond Town in a ceremony sponsored by City Council Speaker Gifford Miller, North Shore Councilman Michael McMahon, the Jewish Historical Society of Richmond County, the Staten Island Historical Society, the Jewish Community Center of Staten Island and Jewish Heritage New York 2004.
"It's time to be proud of who we are and what we have accomplished," said Rabbi Gerald Sussman of Temple Emanu-El in Port Richmond.
Stapleton artist Jenny Tango showed slides from her recently published book, "The Jewish Community of Staten Island," and one came away from her talk with a sense of how interconnected the borough's Jewish community is, and how big an impact it has had here.
Rabbi Yaakov Lehrfield of Young Israel of Staten Island in Willowbrook said Jews are a people on the go, even when they are as deeply rooted as American Jews. Indeed, the first words God spoke to Abraham, the rabbi said, were "lech l'cha, I want you to go forward. Every Jewish person has to move forward. Every single moment you're awake, you're supposed to achieve something." He said the Jewish community was unique because of the "massive infrastructure" needed to ensure its continuity. "Wherever Jews go, they'll build their schools, they'll build their shuls [synagogues]," he said. But once settled, they become an integral part of the fabric of the greater community.
Councilman Michael E. McMahon: American values based upon the idea that all should be able to worship God in their own way.
Council Speaker Gifford Miller (above right) told about 200 people gathered under a tent at Richmond Town that "we would not be the city we are today were it not for the contributions of the Jewish community."
Honoring Jewish War Veterans, which this year is celebrating its 70th anniversary:
Duty Honor Country
In sincere appreciation for honorable service to our country and in helping to maintain the defense of this nation during critical times in history, with devotion to duty in a spirit of sacrifice, and in keeping with the proud tradition of military service.
*The text was taken from "Jews Celebrate a US Milestone," by Leslie Palma-Simoncek, Staten Island Advance, Oct. 25, 2004