(AMERICAN JUDAICA)

Mordechai Manuel Noah (1785-1851) was probably the most influential Jew in the United States in the early 19th century. He began his political career in his home-town of Philadelphia in 1808 strongly supporting the Presidential campaign of James Madison. As a “hawk,” he favored the War of 1812 and served for two years as Consul to Tunis. Upon his return to the United States, he settled in New York where he established a newspaper, the New York Enquirer in 1826-29. Critical of Andrew Jackson, he associated himself with the newly created Whig Party in 1834, and as editor of the Evening Star, a Whig paper, he demonstrated an anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic bias. He supported the Texas revolt against Mexico in 1836 and attacked the abolitionist cause. His involvement in Jewish affairs was inspired by his belief in the idea of Jewish territorial restoration. In 1825 he helped purchase a tract of land on Grand Island near Buffalo, NY which he named Ararat and envisioned as a Jewish colony. Noah was involved in Jewish activities on behalf of the congregations of Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia and Shearith Israel in New York. EJ, XII, cols. 1198-9 and L. M. Friedman, Pilgrims in a New Land (1948) pp. 240-7