FEDERATION NEWS - The Jewish Georgian

Page 2 THE JEWISH GEORGIAN July-August 2012
The importance of holidays
Too often today, we see holidays as a
time when we do not have to work but for
which, in many cases, we receive compensation.
We do recognize the events, but
sadly, with the passage of time and change
in conditions, the historical symbolism and
reminders for which they were established
tend to be blurred and obfuscated. The
occasion is recognized, when it is really the
historical happenings, both tangible and
intangible, associated with the event that is
being celebrated.
For those of us who are lucky enough
to be citizens of the United States, July is
the month in which we rejoice in the establishment
of this great nation. It was on July
4 that the Second Continental Congress
adopted our Declaration of Independence,
the result of which has so enriched our lives
and has had one of the major positive
impacts on the world in which we live.
On this day, I always make it a point to
proudly display my American flag in front
of my home. It is my spiritual “annual physical”
by which I am reminded of the vital
signs of this precious citizenship – a gift I
received when my parents immigrated to
this country.
I never see this flag fluttering in wind
without remembering how far this country
THE
Jewish Georgian
The Jewish Georgian is published bimonthly by Eisenbot, Ltd. It is
written for Atlantans and Georgians by Atlantans and Georgians.
Publisher Marvin Botnick
Co-Publisher Sam Appel
Editor Marvin Botnick
Managing Editor Marsha C. LaBeaume
Assignment Editor Carolyn Gold
Consulting Editor Gene Asher
Associate Editor Barbara Schreiber
Copy Editor Ray Tapley
Assistant Copy Editor Arnold Friedman
Makeup Editor Terri Christian
Production Coordinator Terri Christian
Designer David Gaudio
Photographic Staff Allan Scher, Jonathan Paz
Graphic Art Consultant Karen Paz
Columnist Gene Asher, Jonathan Barach,
Janice Rothschild Blumberg,
Marvin Botnick, David Geffen,
Carolyn Gold, Jonathan Goldstein,
R.M. Grossblatt, Marice Katz,
Balfoura Friend Levine,
Marsha Liebowitz, Bubba Meisa,
Erin O’Shinsky, Reg Regenstein,
Susan Robinson, Stuart Rockoff,
Roberta Scher, Jerry Schwartz, Leon Socol,
Rabbi Reuven Stein, Cecile Waronker
Special Assignments Lyons Joel
Advertising Anne Bender
Ruby Grossblatt
Editorial Advisory Board Members
Sam Appel Rabbi Alvin Sugarman Sam Massell
Jane Axelrod Albert Maslia William Rothschild
Gil Bachman Michael H. Mescon Marilyn Shubin
Asher Benator Paul Muldawer Doug Teper
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The Jewish Georgian ©2012
BY
Marvin
Botnick
has come in truly being “the home of the
brave and the land of the free.” Each family
and group has its own history leading up
to the present, and we Jews are no exception.
The first recorded Jew in Colonial
America was a Bohemian named David
Gans, a metallurgist, who was recruited for
his skills by Sir Walter Raleigh to be part of
a 1564 expedition to the Virginia Territory.
It is somewhat ironic that Raleigh selected
him, since the Jews had been expelled from
England in 1290 and were not allowed to
return until 1656.
The first recorded group of Jewish settlers
to come to America consisted of 23
people fleeing from their homes in Recife,
Brazil. That land had been controlled by the
Dutch, but in 1654 it had been reconquered
by the Portuguese. The Jewish residents
knew that the Portuguese were active participants
in the Inquisition, a Roman
Catholic tribunal for discovery and punishment
of those who did not adhere to the
teachings and beliefs of its religion. They
also knew of the severe punishment meted
out by this procedure including torture and
death. Understandably, the Jewish population
fled to avoid such treatment, and one
such group that sailed away ended up in
New Amsterdam, now known as New York,
which also was a Dutch colony.
While torture and death did not await
them in New Amsterdam, Peter Stuyvesant,
the colony’s governor, wanted to expel
them. Since the colony was founded and
controlled by the Dutch West India
Company, a publically owned Dutch company,
he wrote seeking permission to expel
them. In his letter dated September 22,
1654, he stated, “The Jews who have
arrived would nearly all like to remain
here, but learning that they (with their customary
usury and deceitful trading with
Christians) were very repugnant to the inferior
magistrates [sheriff, mayors, and
aldermen who made up the Inferior Court
of Justification] . . . that the deceitful race –
such hateful enemies and blasphemers of
the name of Christ – be not allowed to further
infect and trouble this new colony to
the detraction of your worships and the dissatisfaction
of your worships’ most affectionate
subjects.”
While permission was not granted to
expel them, this was the reception that the
first group of Jewish settlers received in this
country. This bigotry against the Jews was
widespread throughout Europe, and history
recounts story after story of the expulsion
from many countries. In our own state of
Georgia, in 1732 a charter was granted by
England’s King George establishing the
colony and empowering a Board of
Trustees to govern the territory. The following
year, the trustees voted to ban Jews
from the settlement, but James Oglethorpe,
the founder of the colony, a trustee, and the
governing authority, did not enforce the ruling.
But by the early to middle 1700s, the
ugliness of this bigotry began a metamorphic
transformation into a more open and
understanding society. The sense of the
greatness of this country as it pertains to
acceptance of diverse membership is
reflected in the following excerpt from a
letter written in May 1789, by George
Washington in response to a letter he had
received from the Hebrew Congregation of
Savannah, Georgia:
“I rejoice that a spirit of liberality and
philanthropy is much more prevalent than it
formerly was among the enlightened
nations of the earth, and that your brethren
will benefit thereby in proportion as it shall
become still more extensive; happily the
people of the United States have in many
instances exhibited examples worthy of imitation,
the salutary influence of which will
doubtless extend much farther if gratefully
enjoying those blessings of peace which
(under the favor of heaven) have been
attained by fortitude in war, they shall conduct
themselves with reverence to the Deity
and charity toward their fellow- creatures.”
The change did not happen overnight,
but the seed was planted and, over the
years, it has bloomed and given off the
sweet aroma of justice, freedom, and opportunity.
It has germinated into the beautiful
flower, and, as it has flourished, so have we.
In this fertile soil of the United States, our
Jewish population, just as the total population,
has been offered opportunities never
before available.
In Janice Rothschild Blumberg’s
recently released book Prophet in a Time of
Priests, she includes the following report
carried in the (London) Jewish Times of
June 17, 1898, written by Rabbi Isaac .M.
Wise, the well-known figure in the Jewish
community of the U.S.:
“We . . . can appreciate the privilege
which the citizenship of the country of our
adoption confers upon us more than any
other class of citizens. Coming as we do
from a land where the holiest rights of
mankind . . . are trampled upon, we feel
most keenly the liberty which we enjoy
under the glorious stars and stripes.”
As we have benefited, so have we striven
to participate and contribute to the well
being of our country and fellow citizens.
Citizenship has not always been ours, and
we rejoice in and have worked to justify the
privileges that this status has bestowed on
us. Much has changed since Peter
Stuyvesant’s letter. Profit in a Time of
Priests also includes the following excerpt
from the report that appeared in the Atlanta
Daily News in 1875 on the laying of the cornerstone
for The Temple in Atlanta, a little
over two hundred years after Stuyvesant’s
letter:
“…nothing is so indicative of a city’s
prosperity as to see an influx of Jews who
come with the intention of living with you,
and especially as they buy property and
build among you, because they are a thrifty
and progressive people who never fail to
build up a town they settle in; and again
because they make good citizens, pay their
obligations promptly, never refuse to pay
their taxes and are law-abiding.”
As Jews, we have never asked for more
– nor have we been satisfied to receive less
– than others. For centuries, that was denied
to us, but the birth of the United States
changed that. Happy birthday to us, and
THANK YOU.