Gut Yontiff! Chag Sameach! Happy Anniversary? This month, in fact this week, marks 350 years of American Jewry. Today, being Yom Hazikaron, a day to remember, and a day to take stock of our lives, it makes sense to look back at this important part of our history and see what lessons we can learn.

350 years is a long time, nearly 10% of the 4000 years of Jewish history.

Let's go back to 1654. In fact, let's go back to 1492. Rabbi Groner, from Shaarey Zedek, tells the story of watching one of his children, many years ago at Hillel Day School, in a Columbus Day play, in Hebrew, of course. The first character comes on stage, dressed as a Native American, and says, "ani ha-indian harishon"--meaning "I am Indian #1." The second character, similarly dressed says, "ani ha-indian hasheni--I am Indian #2." Then a third character comes onstage, in a sailor suit, and says, "ani Columbus, Shalom."

No, Columbus wasn't really Jewish, nor did he speak Hebrew, but the Jewish experience in America does go back to 1492. Not only did Columbus sail the ocean blue, but this is also the year that the Jews were expelled from Spain. Where did they go? Many went to the Netherlands, which was friendly and welcoming. Some went to live in Brazil, which was then a Dutch colony.

And now we fast forward to 1654. Brazil has become a Portuguese Colony. With Portugal comes the Inquisition, and it is no longer safe for a Jew to live there. 23 Jews living on the island of Recife, off the coast of Brazil, board a boat called the St. Catherine, and head north. Eventually the boat docks in New Amsterdam. The Dutch governor, Peter Stuyvesant, reluctantly allows the 23 Jews to settle there, on the condition that the Jews take care of themselves and not become dependent on the Dutch government for support. And there we have it, the first Jewish community in North America, in 1654, 350 years ago this week.

A few years later, New Amsterdam became a British colony, and its name was changed to the more familiar, New York. The British extended full and equal rights to the Jews living there.

Over the next 150 years or so, little by little, more Jews moved from Europe to North America, establishing communities in six cities--New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, VA; Newport, RI; Savannah, GA; and Charleston, SC. In 1800, there were 2500 Jews in the United States, representing .04% of the total population.

With the 19th century, the American Jewish community underwent rapid change. Immigration to the U.S. exploded, as many Jews were looking to escape from economic hardship and persecution. In the mid-19th century, hundreds of thousands of Jews came to the U.S. from Central Europe, mostly from Germany, and beginning in 1881, an even larger group began arriving from Russia and Eastern Europe. Many of us descend from these Eastern European immigrants from the turn of the century.

The U.S. Jewish population skyrocketed--from 2500 in 1800, to 50,000 in 1850, to 300,000 in 1880, to 1 million in 1900, and finally in 1950 reached 5 million, representing over 3% of the total population. The U.S. had become home to the world's largest Jewish community, and New York was the most populated Jewish city in the world.

By the way, having reached 5 million in 1950, it's noteworthy to mention that fifty years later, the Jewish population of the U.S. is still that same 5 million. And without the hundreds of thousands who came from the former Soviet Union in recent decades, our population would be even lower. Having grown so rapidly from immigration, the U.S. Jewish population now suffers from high intermarriage and low birth rate.

Today, there are as many Jews in Israel as here. And Metropolitan Tel Aviv has a higher population than New York City.

Nonetheless, this 350th anniversary celebrates the creation of one of the largest homes of the Jewish people in history. But this celebration must not be just about numbers. It's also about the uniqueness of America in the context of Jewish history.

As comedian Yakov Smirnoff likes to say, "What a great country." In America, like never before, a Jew has rights and freedoms. Here a Jew can own land, attend schools and universities, enter professions, vote and hold office.

Sure there's been antisemitism. A Jewish couple once came to check into a hotel and noticed a sign prohibiting Jews. The husband said to the wife, "With your thick European accent, you'd better be quiet. Let me do the talking and I can pass for a gentile." Well the plan worked. The next day the wife decided to go for a swim in the hotel pool. She dove in without checking the water, not realizing that the pool was ice cold. "Oy vey," she screamed out. Fifty antisemitic faces glowered at her. And she continued ingeniously, "Vatever dat means."

Sure, America has seen its share of Henry Fords, Father Coughlins, Louis Farrakhans, and an assortment of hate groups. There's been the lynching of Leo Frank. There's been obvious and subtle discrimination. But by and large, the Jewish experience in America has been one of safety, fairness and equality. Really, when was the last time you were barred from a hotel?

What does the U.S. Constitution say about Jews? Interesting, the answer is nothing. Only in America, the Jews are by and large, not singled out as a group. Granted, the Constitution only spoke about federal law, and it took some states a few years to follow suit. It took the 1826 Jew Bill in Maryland to give the Jews full political rights, but it did indeed happen.

In America, we have had presidents who supported our right to exist, starting with George Washington, who sent a famous letter of encouragement to the members of the Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island.

Washington's support of human rights continues to be felt. Did you hear that Osama bin Laden died and went to heaven. He ran into George Washington, who proceeded to hit bin Laden in the nose. "Take that for attacking my country." Bin Laden was then met my Thomas Jefferson, who was equally hostile. This was followed by James Madison, James Monroe, and a long line of patriots seemed to be waiting for him. Bin Laden turned to the angel and wondered, "What's going on?" The angel replied, "I told you, when you die, you will be greeted by seventy Virginians."

During the Civil War, President Lincoln overturned an edict of General Grant, which would have expelled Jews from Kentucky. Yes the presidents have been on our side, and on the side of Israel.

Then there's the astounding success of Jewish politicians in America. Jews, who constitute about 2% of the population, account for about 5% of the House, 11% of the Senate and 22% of the Supreme Court. We know about the Vice Presidential nomination of Joe Lieberman in 2000. We know that John Kerry's grandparents were Jews; in fact it seemed that every Democratic candidate this year had a Jewish connection.

It's not only safe to be a Jew in America, it's downright popular. Madonna is now Esther, and she studies Kabbalah. And non-Jewish 13 year old girls are begging their parents to make them Bat Mitzvah parties.

In 1990, LIFE magazine listed its 100 most important Americans of the 20th century, and the list included sixteen Jews, including: Leonard Bernstein, Bob Dylan, Albert Einstein, Betty Friedan and Jonas Salk.

Yes, America has been a good place for the Jews. But before we get too excited, there's another side to the story to consider.

Israel Friedlaender, a bible professor at JTS, wrote an essay in 1907, called, The Problem of Judaism in America. Friedlaender questions, "What's good for the Jews might not necessarily be good for Judaism."

Friedlaender refers to the dichotomy of Jews vs. Judaism, as analogous to the body and the soul. Jewish people without Jewish religion is like a body without a soul. Especially on these holiest of days, we can appreciate the body/soul relationship. Thank God if we are blessed with physical health. But we are reminded on Rosh Hashanah that it is spiritual health that we desire.

So too with the Jewish people. Our success in America cannot be measured by the size of our population, or by how many Jewish Senators we have. But by how Jewish we are. We must ask, "Has America been good for Judaism? For Jewish knowledge and the practice of mitzvot?

Europe, for all its personal and economic threat and persecution, was a place where Judaism was strong. What Friedlaender saw in 1907 was an America known, more than anything else, for freedom. And freedom means the ability to say no to religion. In America, if Judaism suffers, it is not because of the Inquisition, or because of a hostile government. If Judaism suffers it is because the Jews choose not to keep it alive. And if Judaism suffers, then the Jewish people, no matter how large and strong, have no soul.

The question is even more crucial today than in 1907. In 1907, America had not yet become home to half of world Jewry. But today, our numbers alone cause the potential lack of spirit to put the Jewish future at risk.

So is America, a great home for the Jewish people, also a great center of the Jewish religion? In keeping with Jewish tradition, the answer is a resounding, "yes, and no."

My teacher at JTS, Dr. Jack Wertheimer, writes of, what he calls, a bipolar model of Judaism in America today. Dr. Wertheimer explains that a minority of American Jews, about 20%, are not only actively participating in the practice of Judaism, but are moving toward even deeper religious commitment. This trend can be noted in the recent obituary from the New York Times of an Orthodox Jew (mentioned in Jonathan Sarna's American Judaism):

Fred . . . beloved husband of Edith, father of Thomas, Linda and Steven, and devoted grandfather of Simcha, Yonatan, Elisheva, Avigayil, Elayna, Benjamin and Yael.

The increase in religion among some American Jews is not limited to the Orthodox. However, most non-Orthodox Jews are clearly moving in the opposite direction. Dr. Wertheimer describes the other side of the bipolar model as "religious minimalism," and figures that about 80% of American Jews see this as their goal. As their goal! To be as less a Jew as possible!

So the cup of Judaism in America is about 20% full or 80% empty. But thanks to these 20%, think about what has happened mostly in the past fifty years. During this past half century when the Jewish population has remained stagnant, there are in America more synagogues, rabbis and cantors, more Judaic studies at universities, more day schools (like JAMD and Hillel), more students than ever enrolled in formal Jewish education, more adults enrolled in serious Jewish education, including Melton and our own Kolel Moshe, under the leadership of Nancy Kaplan.

Yes, the glass is only 20% full, but I urge you among that 20% to keep it up--keep attending shul, keep practicing the mitzvot, keep enrolling in Jewish studies, and keep your children enrolled. And why not try convincing a friend, or better yet, four friends to join you.

20% strong commitment among American Jews is not as bad as it sounds. Remember that first community of Jews in New Amsterdam in 1654. Remember how the Jewish community grew to 50,000 in its first 200 years. Not a single Jew in America, or in the world, traces ancestry to any of these 50,000. Every single one of their families ended up assimilating into greater American society, lost forever as links on the chain of Judaism. Had only 20% of them been committed to Judaism, their Jewish line might have lived on.

On the other hand, we look at the outcome of Israel Friedlaender, the prophet of doom of 1907. He died tragically, murdered in the Ukraine in 1920, while on a relief mission. But his message of the absolute importance of Judaism as the soul of the Jewish people was not lost. Friedlaender's great granddaughter, Roberta Louis Goodman, is a Jewish educator, a graduate of Hebrew Union College, and the director of distance learning at Siegal College of Judaic Studies, doing her part to spread the continually growing spirit of Judaism.