Historical reporting about Building the synagogue of congregation "Kehal Kadosh Miekve Israel" in Philadelphia in ...

Historical reporting about Building the synagogue of congregation "Kehal Kadosh Miekve Israel" in Philadelphia in the "Niles Weekly Register", January 1823

The Niles Weekly Register, January 4, 1823, announces the inauguration of the Philadelphia Jewish Community Synagogue in Philadelphia. With the approval of the heads of the United States Government and the Governor of the State of Pennsylvania.

Kehilat Kadosh Mikveh Israel is a Jewish community and synagogue, one of the oldest in the United States, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania since the mid-18th century. The Philadelphia Jewish community began as a small group of Spanish-origin Jewish residents who organized a joint prayer service in a rented home in about the year of 1740. As the Jewish community grew with an influx of West Indies, its members decided to build their own proper building and, in 1761, purchased the first Torah scroll. The synagogue officially opened at its first seat in Cherry Alley (now Cherry Street) ten years later, in 1771, and the name "Kehal  Kadosh Miekve Israel" was officially given to their community and synagogue in 1773. Among the members of the community were quite a few famous Jews, and the synagogue founders were Haim Solomon (1740–1785), the “banker” of the American Revolution, and Jonas Phillips (1736–1803), a Philadelphia militia fighter in the American War of Independence and grandfather of Uriah Levy, The first Jewish Commodore in the United States Navy.

For years, non-Jewish appeals were raised about the Jewish community's strength in the building, and it was only in 1823 that the community's ownership of the building was finally recognized, under the declaration of James Monroe and Daniel Tompkins [American government], and Joseph Heister Governor of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania as described before us. [In 1829, Isaac Lesser became community leader]

 

The paper "Niles Weekly Register" started its course in 1811 by the editor and publisher Hizekiah Niles [1777-1839], and already in the first publication had 1,500 subscribers. Niles edited the weekly until 1836, making it one of the most widely circulated magazines in the United States, and one of the most influential journalists of his day. In addition to politics, the weekly included reports on economics and science, technology, art and literature. In the field of politics, Nils used what he called "magnanimous disputation" in an attempt to present the two sides' arguments fairly and objectively, a policy that made the paper an important source for the history of the period.

[16] p. 25 cm. Complete sheet. stains. Good condition.