In 1654, 23 refugee men, women and children fleeing from the former Dutch colony of Recife, Brazil landed, by ship, in New Amsterdam. In August 2009, 23 Jews from Congregation B’nai Moshe led by Ilana and me landed, by plane this time, in the same area now called New York City to learn how the first Jews in colonial America fared. These are just some of the impressions from this year’s annual congregational trip.

Ruth & Joel

The streets of New York aren't paved with gold like the immigrants thought, but there is a vibrancy to the city and their citizens are resilient especially after 9-11. Life goes on. No matter what and wherever you turn you think of that fateful day. Seeing the Statue of Liberty makes us proud to be Americans and Jewish ones at that! We love New York and all it has to offer.

Annette & Barry

I must say that as someone who had never been to New York City before, this trip brought about a complete paradigm shift. My picture of NY was a dirty noisy city with too much concrete and no greenery where the people were rude and unfriendly. Well if it was that way at some time in the past, it certainly is not that way today. First of all, the area we stayed in was immaculate. While there may have been graffiti in some areas of the city, those areas also appeared relatively clean for a large city. Everywhere you looked there were patches of green and Manhattan is surrounding itself in a green belt. The people on the streets could not have been more helpful. Needless to say, I had a great time.

Adele & Alan

These first American Jews were the descendants of perhaps 5,000 Jews who had been living in Recife, most of them secretly, since the mid-1500s. When Portugal recaptured Brazil in 1654, these Jews feared the introduction of the Inquisition and fled. They were probably on their way back to Amsterdam after a stop in Jamaica when their ship was attacked by a Spanish privateer who stripped them of their valuables. A return to Europe was now out of the question. The refugees then made a deal with the ship's captain to take them to New Amsterdam, which they thought would be as hospitable as Amsterdam .

They were wrong. Peter Stuyvesant (1592-1672), the Dutch colonial governor was anti-Semitic. He wrote to the Dutch West India Company in Amsterdam, asking permission to expel the Jews. In a letter now in the archives of the American Jewish Historical Society, the Jews of New Amsterdam wrote to their fellow Jews in Holland asking for help. The latter petitioned the company on behalf of the New Amsterdam Jews, noting that Jews were allowed to reside in Holland and even to invest in the Dutch West India Company. In April 1665, the company granted Jews permission to emigrate to and live in the colony, “so long as they do not become a burden to the company or the community.”

The first Jewish synagogue building was erected about 1700 on the north side of Mill Street. It was replaced in 1730 by a new stone building and it remained there for 100 years. This congregation became the current Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue now on 70th and West Central Park.

On our trip we toured the Eldridge Street Synagogue, which was the first Ashkenazic Synagogue in the United States. We enjoyed the Eldridge Street Synagogue tour. The docent, who was a descendant of the first Rabbi, interacted with the group and shared facts about the synagogue that brought the details to life. What we were most impressed with on the New York trip was how everyone helped and looked out for one another.

Sharon & Stewart

To us there were two awesome sights. One was Ellis Island. It doesn't seem possible that our ancestors were herded through this area like cattle. For some, it was less than a century ago. The second tour which was a thrill was that of The Jewish Theological Seminary. Just think, this is where our rabbis, cantors and religious teachers are educated. For Sharon, as a chairman of our sisterhood's Torah Fund committee, which raises funds for the seminary, it was an exceptional thrill. This is the institution that she had heard about since she was a child. It was the first time to see where these contributions went. Most beautiful was The Women's League Sanctuary.

Rhonda

I haven't been to NYC in 35 years, and it was nothing like I expected. The city was clean; there were trees, bushes and flowers in abundance; and the traffic and crowds were lean in some areas and plentiful in others. Even the taxis were clean! It's a great city to sight see, people and dog watch, walk and eat. I had fun and was educated regarding the history of Jews in NYC and other aspects of Judaism. The lectures by the two rabbis (one of which was Rabbi Joel Roth) at JTS were outstanding. If you haven't taken a trip with B'nai Moshe, and the cantor and Ilana; you should. Thanks for letting me in on the fun.

Cathy

The entire NYC trip was awesome, but what deeply impressed me were two presentations at JTS discussing documents from the Cairo genizah and showing some of the old siddurs held in the JTS library, and the Talmudic lesson on the sanctity of Israel. It was wonderful to experience the teaching of such eminent scholars and at a university level.

We have a number of places on the docket for future congregational trips and hope you consider joining us.