Noah, Mordecai Manuel. Autograph Letter Signed, in English to Rev. Jacques Judah Lyons.

(AMERICAN JUDAICA).

July 5th

Buffalo

1853 [sic]

Concerning the intrigues of the Jewish community in Buffalo and his dissatisfaction with the level of dissension present. In regard to synagogue attendance Noah writes the rabbi: “I would be regular were I among decent men.”

Born into a family of Portuguese Sephardic ancestry, Mordecai Manuel Noah (1785-1851) was the first Jew born in the United States to reach national prominence. He was a person of many accomplishments: Lawyer, newspaper editor, playwright, diplomat, politician, judge and major activist for Jewish causes. Noah commanded the respect of four U. S. Presidents: Adams, Madison, Jefferson and Jackson. It has been said that to the Jews of his day he was the quintessential American and to Americans, he was the representative Jew. Noah’s 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, New York, which he named Ararat and envisioned as a Jewish colony. Noah was much involved in Jewish activities on behalf of the congregations of Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia and Shearith Israel in New York. This interesting letter was written to Rev. Jacques Judah Lyons, minister of Congregation Shearith Israel. Noah comments on the current events of the local Buffalo synagogues: Congregation Bethel founded in 1847 by Polish and German immigrants and Congregation Beth Zion which was established in 1850 when the German community broke off from Bethel due to irreconcilable differences. Noah signs: “I remain in haste,” evidently the explanation for the abbreviated tone of the letter and the error in date (1853, a full two years after his death!). Provenance: Rabbi Dr. David de Sola Pool.