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On Friday afternoon last, the third of Adar 5603,
corresponding with the
3d of February 1843, another new Synagogue in Attorney Street was consecrated
to the service of the God of Israel, by the numerous members of the
Jewish persuasion residing in that section of the city. The ceremony,
always solemn, interesting; and retaining the ancient forms and customs
of the chosen people, was handsomely performed, and an appropriate discourse
in German delivered by the Reader, (Hazan,) after which the members
of that and other congregations of this city made voluntary contributions
to the amount of nearly five hundred dollars.
From the circumstances of a discourse being delivered
in German, it will be inferred that most of the congregation who intend
worshipping in Attorney Street are Germans; such is the fact--the emigration of Israelites to this country
is great--the severe oppression which they are yet subject to in Poland,
Bavaria, and other parts of Germany, drives them to this land of religious
freedom, where every man may worship his Maker, after the dictates of
his conscience, and "sit beneath his vine and fig tree, and there
is none to make him afraid;" and if they do not bring money with
them, they bring substantial wealth in their habits of industry and
temperance.
Mechanics and artisans, in almost every branch, may
now be found among the Jews of this city. It is estimated that the entire
number of Israelites at present in New York cannot be short of ten
thousand.
The new Synagogue mentioned above is the sixth we
now have in this city. Sixteen years ago there was but one. The first
was built in Mill Street, in the first ward, in 1729, and rebuilt in
1817; but as most of that congregation removed to the upper part of
the city some ten or twelve years ago, the building was taken down and
the lot sold, and the spacious and. convenient Synagogue in Crosby Street
erected in 1833; for the ancient congregation Shearith Israel (Remnant
of Israel).
The Jews commenced settling in New York about the
year 1656. Tombstones bearing inscriptions more than one hundred and
sixty years old may yet be seen in the old grave-yard fronting on Oliver
Street, in the rear of the Tradesmen's Bank. During the Revolutionary
war, the time when the British held possession of New York, most of
the Jews removed to Philadelphia, with their pastor, the Rev. Gershom
Seixas, (who acted in that capacity for over fifty years,) where they
remained until the evacuation in 1783. With the exception of a few foreigners
they were all staunch whigs of '76, and many served as officers of the
army during the struggle for independence. A number of Jews have settled
in the interior of this state and we are informed there are two synagogues
in Albany, and one in Syracuse. Very recently one was constructed at
Easton, (Penn.) an account of which appeared in this paper, where a
number settled more than eighty years ago.--N. Y. Union.
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