First synagogue in NYC

All persecuted religions, not just Protestant Christians or Quakers, found a home in the New World lands. America contributed its fair share of Christians, to be sure, but in the lands of New Amsterdam to the north, a congregation of Jews set up. Originally residents of Reclif, Brazil, they suddenly found themselves unwanted by the Spanish conquerors (Spain expelled all Jews from its territories in the 1490s), and were forced to move. Two dozen of the Reclif Jews wound up in New Amsterdam, where they set up the first Jewish community in North America.

On this day, April 8, in 1730, the first day of the Jewish holiday of Passover, Shearith Israel moved from its rented quarters to its consecrated location on Mill Street, known today as South William Street. The synagogue has since undergone considerable renovations, but many of the historical furnishings have been preserved inside the “little synagogue” of the modern building.

For another century after its official temple opening, Shearith Israel continued to be the only Jewish congregation in New York. It supported the growing Jewish population with everything from holiday services, to kosher food, to general social security.