Gershom Mendes Seixas
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Gershom Mendes Seixas (1745-1816) was the minister of Congregation Shearith Israel, the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of New York from 1768 to 1776 and again from 1784 to 1816. Although not an ordained Rabbi, he served as Hazzan and Minister to the Congregation and was among the first Jewish communal leaders who was born and educated in the United States.
Seixas is famous for being an ardent patriot during the American Revolution. He moved the congregation to Philadelphia's Congregation Mikveh Israel and was the Hazzan there for the duration of the war. Seixas was one of the fourteen recognized ministers in New York in 1789.
Although Seixas was an opponent of the War of 1812, he advocated to his congregation that it was the responsibility of all Americans to support their country in a time of war, regardless of their faith. He stated "They, the ruling powers, have declared war, and it is our bounded duty to act as true and faithful citizens, to support and preserve the honor, dignity, and the independnece of the United States of America, that they may bear equal rank among the nations of the earth" [1].
Seixas was one of the incorporators of Columbia University and served as a member of the New York State Board of Regents.
[edit] References
- Heckelman, Joseph, The First Jews in the New World, Jay Street Publishers, 2004.
- Pool, David and Naomi De Sola, An Old Faith in the New World, Columbia University Press, 1954.
