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| Congregation Mickve Israel Savannah, Georgia |
As we travel, we often stop to admire beautiful houses of worship, especially those known for their unique characters. We visited one of these special places in Savannah, Georgia.
It seems fitting that as Jewish peoples around the world are
in the midst of the holiday of Passover, a holiday celebrating the liberation
of a people from slavery, I write about a more modern and early group of
Georgian settlers leaving one land searching for freedom of religion in another.
The third oldest Jewish community in America is located in
Savannah, Georgia where, on July 11, 1733, just five months after James
Oglethorpe established the colony of Georgia, a group of 34 poor Sephardic Jews
(of Spanish/Portugese heritage who had been Crypto-Jews, publicly practicing
Catholicism while secretly retaining their Jewish identity and religion) and
eight Ashkenazic Jews (of German descent) arrived from London to begin a new
life.
They brought with them a Torah (Bible) made of deerskin. That Torah is still used today on commemorative occasions, and those Jewish immigrants established a synagogue, Kahal Kodesh MickvaIsrael —Holy
Congregation Hope of Israel. They came
looking for religious freedom and a new life, and even today, descendents of
those original Jewish settlers participate in this synagogue and this
congregation.
They brought with them a Torah (Bible) made of deerskin. That Torah is still used today on commemorative occasions, and those Jewish immigrants established a synagogue, Kahal Kodesh Mickva
This was the largest single immigration of Jewish people to
this continent . Their specific purpose
was to establish a Jewish congregation and to practice their religion freely.
Why did I choose to include this synagogue still functioning
today in a city where the Jewish population is about 3,700 people? When George Washington was elected the first
President of the United States ,
the president of this synagogue wrote him a congratulatory letter. George Washington, President, replied thusly:
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| Letters from ten United States' Presidents beginning with George Washington |
May the same wonder-working Deity, who long since delivered the
Hebrews from their Egyptian oppressors, planted them in the promised land,
whose providential agency has lately been conspicuous in establishing
these United States as an independent nation, still continue to water them
with the dews of Heaven, and make the inhabitants of every denomination partake
in the temporal and spiritual blessings of that people, whose God is
Jehova”
Today in the
synagogue’s archival museum are letters from ten presidents including James
Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Bill Clinton, and George Bush.
In a way the history
of the Mikva Israel Synagogue in Savannah , Georgia Egypt
If you get to Savannah
Take the tour of the building, and see a beautiful part ofSavannah
Take the tour of the building, and see a beautiful part of
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| The "walls" of the Ark holding the Torah represents the walls of Jerusalem |
8 comments:
That was a very informative post. It reminded me that I went by that synagogue but could not visit it as it was too late. However I included pictures of it in a post I wrote about Savannah. I just went back to look to find when I wrote it – it was in October 2010. (In case you’d like to look at it here is the link: http://avagabonde.blogspot.com/2010/10/savannahs-book-and-clint-eastwood_07.html .) Our youngest daughter was married in the Savannah Cathedral and I had written a post on it on October 1, 2010 then went on with this other post later where I included the synagogue. It must have been such an interesting tour to visit it.
We were in Savannah on our way home from Florida last winter and visited this place of worship. We were lucky enough to catch up with a wonderful tour and the history was amazing and fascinating. So much to learn and to enjoy in this world of ours. The Torah in their library dated back to the 1200s if I remember correctly and they had a Torah recovered after the Nazi invasion of Europe.
MA
I had forgotten about the Torah from the Nazis. We went on their tour, and we were amazed at the history. It was brand new for us.
What a beautiful synagogue! I never knew of its existence and the letter from George Washington is amazing.
The only letter from GW I had heard of was that famous one to the Congregation in Rhode Island. But this one screamed Passover, didn't it?
Hi Wendy,
I read your latest post.
It all starts with the Torah. How beautiful this photo and the inspiration it presents to all!
Thank you—especially during this week which is sacred to all of us.
Best,
Jack
Thanks, Jack. I hope you enjoy this weeks Friday's Fotos because I wanted to make sure that there was something apropos to Easter as well.
I visited Vagabonde's post on Savannah which includes Mickve Israel and some additional information on the building.
It also describes some other wonderful information about Savannah, Johnny Mercer, and Clint Eastwood.
If you read or saw Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, you'll enjoy some of that discussion as well.
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