In response to newly minted President George Washington’s call for a national day of Thanksgiving, Gershom Mendes Seixas, spiritual leader of New York’s Congregation Shearith Israel answered. He did so in a sermon which couldn’t be more resonant in the current American Jewish moment.
Seixas (1746-1816) had served as Shearith Israel’s hazzan during the American Revolution. With the arrival of British forces, he and his patriotic congregants fled to Stratford, Connecticut and then, in 1780, to Philadelphia, where he assumed the leadership of its Congregation Mikveh Israel. On his journey from New York, he carried with him his beloved synagogue’s precious Torah scrolls, ensuring they would survive the ravages of war. He returned to Shearith Israel four months after the British evacuated the city in 1784.
It was five years later, in the fall of 1789, that America’s first president, following a request by Congress, called for “a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”
Such a day would be one of covenantal community, in which all citizens “unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions — to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually — to render our national government a blessing to all the people.”
On the appointed occasion, Thursday, Nov. 26, Seixas delivered a clarion call with the audience of not only his congregation but all of America’s roughly 1,500 Jews in mind. The speech was subsequently published in The New York Daily Gazette.
Seixas began by citing Psalm 100’s encouragement to “serve the Lord with gladness, to enter into his presence with a singing,” exulting in the happiness of America’s birth. The new nation was a reflection of God’s benevolence, he believed: “the recent mercies conferred on these states, by the general approbation and adoption of the new constitution, are (ALL) blessings that demand our most grateful acknowledgments to the Supreme Ruler of the universe.” A key component of the historic uniqueness of the newly founded country was the ability for Jews to participate in the American project fully. “We are made equal partakers of every benefit that results from this good government,” he continued “for which, we cannot sufficiently adore the God of our fathers, who hath manifested his care over us in this particular instance.”
Summarizing the principle of Jewish theology that “because of our sins we were exiled from our land,” Seixas expressed the hope that eventually the Jewish community would “find grace in the sight of our Creator, and again be restored to our own land,” biblical Israel. But that wish was not a reason to not express our thanks for the country founded on the principle that “all men are created equal.”
“It is necessary that we, each of us in our respective stations,” he preached, “behave in such a manner as to give strength and stability to the laws entered into by our representatives; to consider the burden imposed on those who are appointed to act in the executive department; to contribute, as much as lays in our power, to support that government which is founded upon the strictest principles of equal liberty and justice.”
He encouraged his congregants “to unite, with cheerfulness and uprightness, upon all occasions that may occur in the political as well as in the moral world, to promote that which has a tendency to the public good for, without a proper subordination to the rulers (either superior or inferior) no government can (long) exist.”
In his day as in ours, leaders have vacillated in their levels of quality and impact. But maintaining a commitment toward contributing positively to society should be a constant.
Citing God’s exhortation “And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation” (Ex. 19:6), Seixas asked his coreligionists to stand at the forefront of being model American citizens, “to enter into a self-examination; to relinquish your prejudices against each other; to subdue your passions; to live, as Jews ought to do, in brotherhood and amity; ‘to seek peace and pursue it’ (Ps. 34:14): so shall it be well with you both here and hereafter; which God, of his infinite mercies, grant.—Amen.”
Seixas sensed, even in that early hour, the specialness of America in both Jewish history and world history and was grateful for it. “The word Modeh, ‘I give thanks,’ comes from the same root as Yehudi, meaning ‘Jew,’” noted the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, whose fifth yartzeit is this month. “We acquired this name from Jacob’s fourth son, named by his mother Leah who, at his birth said, ‘This time I will thank God’ (Gen. 29:35). Jewishness is thankfulness: not the most obvious definition of Jewish identity, but by far the most life-enhancing.”
Even with the rising tide of antisemitic elements, the United States’ founding principles and promise stand steadfast. American Jews do too, with our ability to perform our duties properly – protecting our people, promoting the public good and pursuing a peaceful and flourishing polity. And for that, we remain eternally thankful.
Rabbi Dr. Stuart Halpern is Senior Adviser to the Provost of Yeshiva University and Deputy Director of Y.U.’s Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought. His books include the newly released “Jewish Roots of American Liberty,” “The Promise of Liberty: A Passover Haggada,” “Esther in America,” “Gleanings: Reflections on Ruth” and “Proclaim Liberty Throughout the Land: The Hebrew Bible in the United States.”
