Congregation Kahal Kadosh Beth Shalome. Manuscript written in English, of the toasts offered for the adoption of a Synagogue constitution.

(AMERICAN-JUDAICA)

Undated, (c. 24th August

Richmond, Virginia

1789)

An extraordinary document. Contains the text of thirteen patriotic toasts given at the celebration commemorating the adoption of the Constitution of the first synagogue in Virginia. The first toast is to George Washington: “The President of the United States, may his administration secure to the citizens of America the Liberty obtained by his valor.” The document shows that early American Jews were keenly aware of the extraordinary status they had obtained, nearly a year before Washington’s famous epistle to the Congregation of Newport, “To Bigotry No Sanction; to Persecution No Assistance.” The thirteenth toast reads: “May the Israelites throughout the World enjoy the Same Religious Rights & Political Advantages as their American Brethren.” Having grown to the size of one hundred people, Richmond's Jewish community, largely Spanish and Portuguese, formed a congregation, which they named Beth Shalome, in 1789. The rules and regulations of this synagogue were codified in a constitution which they adopted on “New moon of Ellul,  August 24, 1789 (see Jacob Rader Marcus, American Jewry. Documents. Eighteenth Century. Primarily Hitherto Unpublished Manuscripts, pp. 145-46). Jonathan Sarna sees evidence of "democratization" by the very adoption of the term “constitution,” rather than “ascamoth,” hitherto used by Sephardic congregations (see Pamela S. Nadell, Jonathan D. Sarna & Lance J. Sussman (Eds.) The Democratization of American Judaism, in: New Essays in American Jewish History (Cincinnati: American Jewish Archives, 2010) p. 99. In these toast we well see this theme which mentions “liberty” three times, and the choice of three significant dates: July 4, 1776, September 17, 1787, and March 4, 1789, which constitute the 10th, 11th, and 12th toasts. A remarkable document that fully displays the degree in which the Jews in newly independent America luxuriated in their new American freedoms. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kahal_Kadosh_Beth_Shalome.