250 Years of America and 372 Years of American Jews

JOHN PODHORETZ: Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, your congregation, Shearith Israel, has been present in New York City continuously since what year?

MEIR Y. SOLOVEICHIK: Well, it’s been present since before there was a New York, since New Amsterdam, 1654. That would make us the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States.

PODHORETZ: This is a conversation centering on the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. But as your synagogue’s history indicates, the connection between the Jewish people and the land that became the United States long predates 1776.