What Is the Most Important Political Document in American History?
George Washington’s letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, represents a pivotal moment in time.
This question often sparks a bizarrely controversial debate and usually culminates in a handful of understandably obvious winners.
The Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights almost always emerge victorious, threatened only by the occasional Taylor Swift lyric.
After all, how can intellectual juggernauts like Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin or James Madison ever compete with “It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me”?
But then there are other documents which, though they may carry far less weight than their famous counterparts, represent pivotal moments in time, and even turning points for civilization.
For me, George Washington’s letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, is one such document. Written Aug. 18, 1790, and in fewer words than this column, Washington reassured the Jewish community that in this new nation, the religious tyranny of the past would be cast aside in favor of toleration and liberty, with the letter’s concluding paragraph citing Micah 4:4 of the Old Testament:
“May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.”
As a Jewish immigrant to the United States, Washington’s letter moves me every single time.
Not just because it flew in the face of the widespread (and disastrous) antisemitism of Europe.
And not just because it spoke of the equality that has allowed American Jews to enjoy rights deemed unimaginable by so many across the world, even today.
No, this letter also stands as a concrete reminder of the foundational relationship between American Christians and American Jews.
While the comparison of Jews to canaries in coal mines is both overused and hugely irritating — since it inherently argues that the persecution of Jews should only matter to non-Jews because they might be next — it’s impossible to argue (at least prior to the establishment of the modern State of Israel) that Jews have fared better anywhere outside of the United States.
If Jews are indeed canaries in coal mines, then life in the American coal mine has been ridiculously smooth compared to Europe, Africa or the Middle East.
But as we witness an explosion of antisemitism here in the United States, fueled in part by an insidious minority hoping to leverage religious antisemitism as a weapon of bigotry in pursuit of power and influence, American Jews must remember two things.
First, the vast majority of American Christians are not only supportive of Israel, but are supportive of American Jews in their never-ending fight against bigotry. While city streets, college campuses and social media might seem overwhelmed with renewed calls for the destruction of Israel and world Jewry, you only have to travel to Christian communities across the country to be greeted by people of true faith who unwaveringly reject this spread of anti-Jewish hate.
Second, it’s not enough for American Jews to rely on Christians, or to take them or this country for granted.
Yes, George Washington’s letter represents a monumental moment in Jewish history, but it wasn’t a one-way promise that sprung from a vacuum. It was a response to words of Jewish support from Moses Seixas, a first-generation American Jew whose parents migrated to Rhode Island from Portugal, writing on behalf of Newport’s Touro Synagogue of Congregation Jeshuat Israel to congratulate the newly inaugurated president.
It remains true that Jews and Christians must continue to work together to defend the values at the heart of the United States of America. But to do so, we must learn all there is to learn from George Washington’s historic letter.
This letter doesn’t just speak of one-way equality. It speaks of a common fight for common values. To truly learn from this letter, we must continue to stand beside (and not behind) our Christian neighbors; continue to advocate for fundamental rights such as free speech; and continue fighting back against anti-Jewish and anti-Christian bigotry, working together to defend the principles that still make this country the icon of freedom George Washington spoke of in the summer of 1790.
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