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.
