The history of the Jews of Philadelphia : from colonial times to the age of Jackson

No history has its beginning at a particular point in time. The history of the Jews of Philadelphia did not begin when the first Jew set foot on the shores of the Delaware. Long before that, the stirring of events in the cauldron of Europe created forces which brought him here, and long before that there were other events which in turn created their successors. As seeds are carried on the wind to sprout and grow into new plants, so individuals are carried on the currents of historical movements to begin a new life in a new location. It should be realized that, as John Bach MacMaster first pointed out so trenchantly when he named his major work "The History of the People of the United States," history is not the story of individuals, but the movement of masses of individuals. No single tree grew, but a forest. The country was not settled by Captain John Smith or William Penn; they were merely leaders whose claim to fame rests upon the fact that millions of no-names decided to build a home in a new land which they too had believed in. American Jewish history is not the story of Asser Levy or Haym Salomon or Judah P. Benjamin or Rebecca Gratz. They were but a few of many. And it is the many whose story we seek. This is basic in American Jewish history, as it is in all history. The History of the Jews of Philadelphia Preface Contents List of Illustrations Prologue 1. The Earliest Days under Dutch and English Rule 2. The Beginnings of a Philadelphia Jewish Community 3. The Gratzes Assume Leadership 4. A Group of Jewish Merchants Help Open up the West 5. The Fight for Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness 6. Haym Salomon in Philadelphia 7. The Organization of Religious Life and the Building of the First Synagogue 8. The Struggle for Civil Rights 9. Economic Life after the Revolution 10. Glimpses of Jews in the Contemporary Scene 11. Politics in an Era of Consolidation 12. The Establishment of a New Synagogue and Religious Rules and Problems 13. The Religious Functionaries and the Religious Practices of the Community 14. The First Communal Philanthropic Organizations 15. War and Politics 16. Authors, Actors and Patrons of the Arts 17. Medicine and Science 18. Industry, Trade, and Commerce 19. The Second Synagogue of Mikveh Israel 20. End of an Era List of Abbreviations Notes Index "This volume traces the origin and growth of Philadelphia's Jewish population, their sharing in the life of the wider community, the problems they had to face personally and as a group. ...The present work covers the period in the history of the United States from the country's colonial beginnings to the age of Jackson."--Book jacket. Book by Wolf, Edwin, Whiteman, Maxwell