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Adventure In Freedom: First Chapter:
The Emergence of the American Jewish Pattern
- Abstract
In its brief history, the struggling outpost of the Dutch West India Company on the Hudson had already seen many a curious sight. None was more curious, however, than the spectacle that greeted observers one day early in September 1654. Beating its way up the Bay had come the tiny bark St. Charles. As the vessel drifted to anchor at the foot of the island, its passengers could be seen eagerly waiting to touch land. When at last they descended, it was apparent that among them were twenty-three Jews.
Such folk were indeed a rarity in this corner of the New World. Through the tiny settlements that dotted the Atlantic Coast of North America, an occasional Jew may have drifted without leaving a trace of his presence in the record. But this was the first group to make its way to the lands that ultimately became the United States; and they established the first organized Jewish community in that region.
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