The Jewish Story Is the American Story

On November 14, Deborah Lipstadt spoke before the 290,000 assembled in support of Israel, and in opposition to Jew-hatred, on the Mall in Washington. In her remarks, the prominent historian of the Holocaust and now the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, made reference to a famous piece of correspondence between George Washington and early American Jewry:

Two hundred and thirty years ago, President George Washington reassured the Jews of Newport that our new nation would give bigotry no sanction and persecution no assistance; his meaning and his message were quite specific. In the United States of America, the bigotry of antisemitism must have no place, no quarter, no haven, no home. Anti-Semitism, or more explicitly, Jew-hatred—the world’s longest, oldest form of prejudice—has pierced and permeated too many countries, too many cultures, faith communities.

George Washington did indeed write these words, emphasizing that America would give “bigotry no sanction and persecution no assistance.” But this was not the first letter that he wrote to American Jews. What’s more, Washington was actually echoing a phrase fashioned by a prominent Jewish leader of the day. Altogether, the story behind Washington’s interaction with early American Jewry is extraordinary, and it is an essential story to tell in the very moment in which American Jewry finds itself.