History of the Jews in Charleston, South Carolina
The history of Jews in Charleston, South Carolina, was related to the 1669 charter of the
History
The earliest record of a Jew in Charleston occurs in 1695, when one is recorded as acting as interpreter for Governor John Archdale. The Jewish interpreter was interpreting between English and Spanish for a group of Yamasee who had captured four Spanish-speaking Yamasee to sell as slaves in Barbados and Jamaica.[1]
In 1702 Jews appeared in numbers and voted at a general election. The early Jewish communities in the South were made up primarily of Sephardic Jews who had immigrated from London and the Netherlands, where they had settled following expulsion from Spain and Portugal in the late 15th century.
The Jewish community at Charleston received a substantial addition during the years 1740–41. Following a Spanish invasion of Georgia in 1733, many Jews moved to Charleston, as they feared another Inquisition. In addition, the illiberal policy of the trustees of Georgia induced both Jews and Christians to leave that colony and to flock to South Carolina. During the mid-1700s, Charleston was the preferred destination of Jewish emigres from London, who represented numerous wealthy merchant families. They became involved in business, trade, finance and agriculture in Charleston, with some owning plantations.
By 1800 there were about 2,000 Jews in South Carolina (overwhelmingly
South Carolina was the first place in America to elect a Jew to public office:
First synagogue
The first
The Beth Elohim congregation is still operating, and it has the second oldest synagogue building in the U.S., and the oldest in continuous use.[8] Its first synagogue was a small building on Union Street. Its present edifice is situated at 90 Hasell St. The Jews of Charleston at an early date also established a Hebrew Benevolent Society, which still survives.
While the earliest congregation was composed mainly of Portuguese Jews, the German element soon became prominent. Even before 1786 the city possessed not only a Portuguese congregation (
Rabbi Burton Padoll, who served as the synagogue's rabbi during the 1960s, was an outspoken activist for the
War of Independence
During the
In 1779 a special corps of volunteer infantry was composed largely of Jews who resided on King St in the city of Charleston. Among its Jewish members were David N. Cardozo, Jacob I. Cohen, and Joseph Solomon. This body subsequently fought under General, Colonel at that time,
In 1790 the Jews of Charleston sent an address of congratulation to George Washington upon his accession to the presidency. In 1791 the congregation of Beth Elohim, then numbering fifty-three families, was incorporated by the legislature; and in 1794 its synagogue was consecrated at a ceremony attended by General William Moultrie and many of the chief dignitaries of the state.
Shortly after this period, Charleston attracted other Jews from New York, Virginia, and elsewhere, owing to its commercial opportunities and the welcome of the large Jewish community already established there. Until about 1830 or so, Charleston had the largest Jewish population of any city in the United States.
State officials
During the early portion of the nineteenth century, several Charleston Jews held high offices in the state. Among these were Myer Moses, elected to the state legislature in 1810, and later appointed as one of the first commissioners of education; Abraham M. Seixas, a magistrate; and Lyon Levy, state treasurer.
Other prominent Charleston Jews during the early part of the nineteenth century were:
At the outbreak of the American Civil War, the Jewish community in Charleston joined their non-Jewish neighbors in the Confederate cause. Among the prominent soldiers of the Confederacy were General Edwin Warren Moïse and Dr. Marx E. Cohen.
After the war, leaders included Gen. Edwin Warren Moïse, adjutant-general of the state of South Carolina from 1876 to 1880;
In 1902 Charleston had fewer than 2,000 Jews, a population smaller than 86 years earlier in 1816.
Reform, Beth Elohim and the courts
The first Jewish Reform movement in the United States originated in Charleston. In 1824 a large number of the members of Congregation Beth Elohim petitioned its trustees to shorten the service and to introduce the English language. The petition was rejected. The petitioners resigned and organized the Reform Society of Israelites. David Nuñez Carvalho was the first reader of the society; but the most influential man in the movement was Isaac Harby, a distinguished journalist and playwright. He was editor of The Quiver, The Charleston Mercury, and several other publications.[9]
In the 1840s there was a major split in Congregation Beth Elohim, which many historians of American Jewish history see as the beginning of the American Reform movement. The conflict began after the introduction of an organ into the synagogue when it was rebuilt following a fire in 1840. The series of conflicts between Reform and Traditionalist elements in Beth Elohim resulted in a complicated dispute between the President, who favored Reform, and the Board of Trustees, which was controlled by the Traditionalists. The President refused to call the Board of Trustees to meet (as was required by the synagogue's constitution) because he knew they would admit new traditionalist, members and obtain control of the congregation. The Board ignored him and met on their own, a move which the Reformers challenged in court.
The resulting case, State v. Ancker, has become known as an early example of U.S. courts refusing to intervene in complex religious questions. The ruling was more complicated. Judge A.P. Butler, delivering the opinion for the South Carolina Court of Appeals, ruled that the Board had violated the synagogue's constitution by meeting without the President's approval. He ruled the admission of the new members was invalid. While some have claimed that the decision ignored the question of religious disagreement and focused on the legal question, the case's strong endorsement of progress and change in religious ceremony and observance seems to show that the Court's (or at least Butler's) sympathies lay with the reformers. The decision resulted in the formation of a new congregation by the more traditional members, known as "Shearith Israel". In 1866, it reunited with the old congregation.
Notable Jews from Charleston
- Robert F. Furchgott, scientist, born in Charleston 1915, winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Medicine.
- Elias Marks, physician and educator.
- Moses Lindo, Inspector General of Indigo, Drugs and Dyes
- Penina Moïse, a poet and writer.
- Moses Cohen Mordecai, a businessman, politician, and parnas (synagogue administrator).
- Billy Simmons, an African-American Jew who attended Kahal Kadosh and was a scholar in Hebrew and Arabic.
- South Carolina Federation of Women's Clubsfrom 1910 to 1912.
See also
- Goldring / Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life
- Jews in the Southern United States
- John Henry Devereux, an architect who designed the Brith Sholom Beth Israel Synagogue.
References
- JSTOR 43059161. Retrieved 2021-10-02.
- ^ "404 page not found - University of South Carolina". www.sc.edu. Archived from the original on 2009-03-14. Retrieved 2006-12-18.
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: Cite uses generic title (help) - ^ "SOUTH CAROLINA - JewishEncyclopedia.com". www.jewishencyclopedia.com.
- ^ Bertram W. Korn, "Jews and Negro Slavery in the Old South", 1961, full text online at Archive.org; accessed 9 July 2016
- ^ "A "portion of the People" | Harvard Magazine". Archived from the original on 2008-12-01. Retrieved 2010-07-31.
- ^ "Jewish Heritage Collection-Upcoming Exhibition". Archived from the original on 2007-02-03. Retrieved 2007-01-20.
- ^ Polly Ann Matherly (April 1980), National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim; Congregation Beth Elohim; Beth Elohim Synagogue (pdf), National Park Service and Accompanying three photos, exterior and interior, from 1973 and 1977 (32 KB)
- ^ "The Jewish Community of Charleston". The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot.
- ^ a b "A "portion of the People"", Nell Porter Brown, Harvard Magazine, January–February 2003
- ^ "Don't Whitewash Charleston's Jewish History of Racism". The Forward. 22 June 2015. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
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Further reading
- Sarna, Jonathan. American Judaism: A History
- Hagy, James. This Happy Land: The Jews of Colonial and Antebellum Charleston
- Liberles, Robert. Conflict over Reforms: The Case of the Congregation Beth Elohim, Charleston, South Carolina
- Rosengarten, Dale and Ted. (2003) A Portion of the People: Three Hundred Years of Southern Jewish Life Columbia: University of South Carolina Press
- Tarshish, Allan. The Charleston Organ Case American Jewish Historical Quarterly, 54:4 (June 1965): 411 - 449.
External links
- Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim
- Jewish History in South Carolina
- Nell Porter Brown, "A Portion of the People" -- Jews in South Carolina & Charleston, Harvard Magazine, January 2003
- Discussion of 300 Years of Jewish History in The American South, March 2002, NPR
- A Portion of the People: Three Hundred Years of Southern Jewish Life, University of South Carolina Press
- Jewish History in Charleston
- A Portion of the People: Three Hundred Years of Southern Jewish Life (February 6 through July 20, 2003), Center for Jewish History, New York City
- Southern Jewish Life: The Life and Times of Southern Jewry
- Decision of Judge Butler in State v. Ancker
- Chabad of Charleston, Southern Spirit website