Setting History Straight!
It has been unbelievable and disheartening to see the Anti-Semitic demonstrations against Israel and the Jews across the world and particularly in America. At the time of the American Revolution, there were at least five synagogues in the colonies and most of the Jews were patriots supporting the revolution. Why would they be among the minority of colonists that would defy the King? The fact that they had freedom in the new land was amazing for these Jews, in most European countries Jews could not own land or real property and that is why so many were merchants, bankers, professors, lawyers, and doctors.
One of the Jews in America at the time of the Revolution was Haym Salomon. October 17, 1781. An eerie silence took hold over the battlefield outside Yorktown, Virginia. Through the wispy smoke that floats above the battlefield, a British officer can be seen waving a white flag. General Cornwallis has surrendered Yorktown, ending the last major battle of the American Revolution. The surrender of Yorktown and the nearly 8,000 British troops convinced the British Parliament to start negotiating an end to the war. On September 3, 1783, the treaty of Paris was signed. The war was over. If not for Haym Salomon, however, the decisive victory at Yorktown never would have happened.
After marching through Pennsylvania, with little in the way of food and supplies, Washington’s troops were on the verge of mutiny. They demanded a full month’s pay in coins, not congressional paper money which was virtually worthless, or they would not continue their march. Washington wrote to Robert Morris saying he would need $20,000 to finance the campaign. Morris responded that there was simply no money or even credit left. Washington simply wrote, “Send for Haym Salomon.” Within days, Haym Salomon had raised the $20,000 needed for what proved to be the decisive victory of the Revolution. There are more stories that could be told of Haym’s commitment to the Revolution, you should read them.
On January 8, 1785, Haym died suddenly at the age of 44. Due to the fact the government owed him hundreds of thousands of dollars, his family was left penniless.
His obituary in the Independent Gazetteer read: Although there is little proof, many believe that when designing the American Great Seal, George Washington asked Salomon what he wanted as compensation for his generosity during the war. Salomon responded, “I want nothing for myself, rather something for my people.” It is for this reason that the 13 stars are arranged in the shape of the Star of David.
William Blackstone, a Christian pastor and leader was instrumental in raising the alarms about the persecution of Jews in Russia and Eastern Europe beginning in the 1880’s and more than 2 million Jews fled Russia between 1880 and 1920. Most came to the United States. These Jewish immigrants immediately fell in love with their adopted country and the freedom it allowed. One of these immigrants was Irving Berlin who immigrated as a child with the name of Israel Baline and worked as a singing waiter. He would become one of America’s premier songwriters. His first hit was “Marie From Sunny Italy” which represented another ethnic immigrant group in New York. Many Americans are unaware that it was this Jewish songwriter who wrote “White Christmas” or “Easter Parade”. He also wrote “God Bless America” and gave the royalties and ownership to the Boy Scouts of America.
Today there are about 15 million Jews in the world and almost half, 6 million, live in the United States and 7 million in Israel. As you can see America with nearly half of all Jews in the world has been blessed by this small population. They are far less than 1% of our population and yet dominate with their leadership in so many areas. There is no greater accolade for scientific achievement than the Nobel Prize. One of the most remarkable Nobel statistics is that 22 percent of winners have been Jewish, In other words, Jewish Nobel laureates number at least 11,250 percent above average. According to the late Rabbi Lord Sacks, the Jews knew that “to defend a country, you need an army, but to defend an identity, you need a school”. Would we learn that truth in teaching our children about their history! Genesis 22:18 says that “in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you obeyed my voice.” Prophetically God told us that the Jewish people will bless the earth. But more importantly is Genesis 12:3 that says, “And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” It is important to remember God’s blessing on American, in part, may be due to the way we support His people, the Jews.
As Christians, we have been gifted with the Bible and the Messiah through the Jews. I would recommend a few books by an Orthodox Jewish author by the name of Michael Medved who has a talk show and for a time had a show on PBS. He has written a book “God’s Hand On America – Divine Providence in the Modern Era” and “The American Miracle“. Both are excellent books on the “real history” of America. Don’t forget our history.
3 replies on “Jews Blessed America”
America’s grace and blessings come because of individuals in America, who possess the seed of Christ’s Life, by means of the Holy Spirit gift. Jew or Gentile alike. Not because of physical lineage.
18th-century Jews were instrumental in Article 6’s biblically seditious Christian test ban whereby mandatory biblical qualifications were likewise eliminated, and which would have kept them from holding political office.
Knowing that Article 6’s Christian test ban would allow not only Jews, but Muslims, Hindus, and other anti-Christs (per 2 John 1:7-11) to hold public office, Article 6’s Christian test ban was the most hotly contested component of the new Constitution in the States’ Ratifying Conventions. Tragically, the States caved and ratified Article 6 as proposed, selling their posterity’s future for anti-Christ’s to determine.
“…The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia affirms that “This petition [by the Jews of Philadelphia] later on proved to be instrumental in the revision of the Pennsylvania state constitution in such a manner as to abolish the religious test.”42 On September 7, 1787, Jonas Phillips, a founder of Philadelphia’s Mikveh Israel Synagogue, also petitioned the framers at the federal Constitutional Convention:
‘Sires: … It is well known among all the citizens of the 13 United States that the Jews have been true and faithful Whigs, and during the late contest with England they have been foremost in aiding and assisting the states with their lifes [sic] and fortunes. They have supported the cause, have bravely fought and bled for liberty which they can not [sic] enjoy.
Therefore if the honourable convention shall in their wisdom think fit and alter the said oath [as found in the altered Pennsylvania Constitution] and leave out the words to viz.: “and I do acknowledge the Scripture of the New Testament to be given by divine inspiration,” then the Israelites [Jews] will think themselves happy to live under a government where all religious societys [sic] are on an equal footing….
Your most devoted obed. Servant, Jonas Phillips Philadelphia, 24th Ellul, 5547, or Sep’r 7th 1787.43’
“Phillip’s petition undoubtedly bore weight with the framers, as did the personal relationships many of the framers shared with Jews. Under the heading “Jewish Influence on the Framing of the Constitution,” The Jewish People’s Almanac brags about George Washington’s, Benjamin Franklin’s, and James Madison’s personal relationships with Jews:
‘Had the Constitutional Convention been open to the public, more than one eminent Jew would have had no difficulty in mingling on terms of equality with many of the best-known delegates. To George Washington, who presided over the sessions, Jews were of course no strangers. During the revolution he had on his personal staff Manuel Mordecai Noah of South Carolina, David Salisbury Franks of Philadelphia, and Major Benjamin Nones, a French volunteer….
‘Benjamin Franklin, the oldest member of the Constitutional Convention, numbered many Philadelphia Jews among his friends. …[H]e was sufficiently friendly with them to be one of the contributors to the building fund for Philadelphia’s first synagogue, Mikveh Israel. Samuel Keimer, an English printer who was one of Franklin’s first employers, was a Jew.
‘Virtually all of the delegates knew Haym Salomon, who died two years before the convention met. Six of the delegates had long been dependent on his generosity for their own livelihoods or for the maintenance of the particular government function for which they were responsible. …James Madison, a future President, sought out Salomon. Madison’s papers record his indebtedness to the Jewish financier, who refused both a note and interest.’44
“Michael Alexander summed up Article 6 and Amendment 1’s impact upon equal rights for American Jews:
‘Although the Constitution of the United States does not specifically mention Jews, its religious liberty provisions in essence granted Jews the honor of citizenship. The United States was thus the first non-Jewish country, ancient or modern, that included Jews as political equals…. The Constitution of the United States prohibited a religious test for government (Article VI), and the First Amendment prohibited Congress from establishing any religion, thus permitting Jews to participate as equal citizens on the federal level…. By 1820, most state constitutions eliminated religious qualifications that had kept Jews from participating in public affairs and government office….’45
“Article 6 opened the door for Jews, Muslims, and other non-Christians to serve in official government capacities. It was not only an open defiance of the First Commandment, but an unequivocal contravention of the Apostle Paul’s admonition to the Corinthians:
‘Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.’ (2 Corinthians 6:14-18)
“As important as Paul’s directive is for personal relationships, how much more crucial that it be applied to those who govern others? The ramifications are much greater.
‘Hear this word that YHWH hath spoken against you…. Can two walk together, except they be agreed?’ (Amos 3:1-3)
“The constitutional framers made it possible for Christians and non-Christians to be unequally yoked in official capacity. The first to take advantage of Article 6’s antichristian prescription were, not surprisingly, antichristians….”
For more, see Chapter 9 “Article 6: The Supreme Law of the Land” of free online book “Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective” at https://www.bibleversusconstitution.org/BlvcOnline/blvc-index.html
The alleged ‘separation’ clause is so misused. “Congress shall make no law concerning the establishment of religion…” Consider the history that put that into the US Constitution: In most countries of Europe, Christians were MANDATED to be obedient members of a State Church. The Puritans sacrificed everything to came to the wilderness of America to practice Christianity as they knew it from Scripture, their long standing efforts to ‘purify’ the Anglican church at home seen largely as failed. The Puritans would not comply with the demands of King/Pope and other potentates, who demanded their obedience to State ‘church’, that they ( rightly ) took as anti-Biblical. Hence, it was considered vitally important that Congress be specifically prohibited to force a National Denomination on us as had been done in England and elsewhere.