Episode 1: No Sanction to Bigotry

Mark Oppenheimer 

Support for Antisemitism, U.S.A. comes from the Henry Luce Foundation and the David Bruce Smith Foundation.

Mark Oppenheimer 

Squirrel Hill is one of the oldest Jewish neighborhoods in the United States. It's in Pittsburgh, and historically it's been about a third Jewish give or take. There's a Jewish Community Center there are Jewish businesses and synagogues. It's a beautiful community to be part of. It was also the scene of a horrific attack against Jews. Robert Bowers hated immigrants, and he believed that Jews were encouraging immigration. And on Shabbat morning, Saturday, October 27, 2018, Bowers entered the Tree of Life synagogue. Now, inside that building, there were three different congregations worshiping in different areas. There was Tree of Life, main congregation, and then two others that rented space Dor Hadash and New Light. Bowers shot and killed 11 People from among all three congregations. Their names were Daniel Stein, Joyce Feinberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil Rosenthal, David Rosenthal, Bernice Simon. Sylvan Simon, Melvin Wax, and Irving Younger. The youngest person murdered was 54 years old. The oldest was 97. It was the deadliest attack on Jews in American history. Five years later, in August of 2023, a federal court found Bowers guilty of all 11 deaths, and he was sentenced to death.

Mark Oppenheimer 

After events like the Tree of Life shootings in Pittsburgh, or the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, or after the October 7 Hamas attacks, Americans often talk about antisemitism in the US today, as if it were something new, something without a history. politicians and pundits and just normal everyday Jews express dismay, but they also express surprise. They say where did this come from? But antisemitism in the US is not new. It has a history, a long history, a history that's complex and often at odds with itself. It's a history that is easy to overlook. Now, in a certain sense, Americans and even American Jews haven't been interested in that history. We like to believe that this country has always been good for the Jews. And there are good reasons for that belief. Antisemitism in the US has never been deadly. The way that anti Jewish violence in Europe or North Africa or the Middle East has been really, really deadly. You can make a pretty good argument that in no country except maybe Israel, have Jews been freer than in the United States - free from violence, free from bigotry free from hatred, compared with basically every other land in the world in the past 2000 years, the United States has been the promised land for Jews. But there has been antisemitism here since before the nation's founding. There has been religious bigotry. There's been racialized hatred directed toward Jews and conspiracy theories and stereotypes. And we have to talk about it. I'm Mark Oppenheimer, and this is Antisemitism, U.S.A., a podcast about the history of antisemitism in the United States. Episode One, No Sanction to Bigotry.

Mark Oppenheimer 

Let's turn back to that 2018 massacre in Squirrel Hill. And look at the motives of the shooter. Because Robert Bowers, his motives are a clue to what antisemitism is and what it's been throughout American history. A simple definition of antisemitism is hatred of Jews. But the gunman at Tree of Life hated Jews in that synagogue for a very specific reason. Robert Bowers believed that immigrants from South America arriving in the US would be violent toward white people. And crucially, he believed that Jews were engaged in a secret conspiracy to encourage immigrants to replace white Americans. Now one of the congregations inside that building Dor Hadash had partnered with HIAS the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society to sponsor a national refugee Shabbat, a Sabbath day in honor of refugees, there was nothing secretive or conspiratorial about it. These Jews did support immigrants, not to replace or kill white people, but to welcome them.

Mark Oppenheimer 

But that's not how Bowers saw it.

Mark Oppenheimer 

Shortly before the shooting, he wrote that HIAS quote, likes to bring invaders, meaning immigrants, in that kill our people. I can't sit by and watch my people get slaughtered, screw your optics I'm going in. He meant going into the synagogue to shoot Jews. Antisemitism is a convenient hatred. It's something to reach for any time someone is angry about the world and needs some group to blame. Wherever hatred or conspiratorial thinking flourishes, you can probably find antisemitism flourishing too. Here's Yair Rosenberg, a staff writer at The Atlantic magazine, who covers politics and religion, and writes a lot about contemporary antisemitism.

Yair Rosenberg 

Most people conceive of anti-semitism as a personal prejudice, like many others, which means that a bigot despises Jews, because they're different, just as they might despise other people who are different whether they're too black, too Muslim or too Jewish. And antisemitism absolutely is a personal prejudice. But it's also something else. It's a conspiracy theory about how the world works that posits sinister string pulling Jews behind the scenes who are behind social and political problems. And that kind of antisemitism is less well understood, because it's not how many other prejudices operate. But it's also the kind of antisemitism that if you scratch beneath the surface, is the sort that is more dangerous and tends to get Jews killed, including today, you'll look at recent anti-semitic attacks on American soil, whether it's the massacre at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue, or the shooting at a kosher supermarket in Jersey City just a few years ago, or the hostage situation in Colleyville, Texas, where an entire congregation was held hostage for much of the Jewish Sabbath. In all of these cases, the perpetrators had completely different backgrounds. In Pittsburgh, it was a white supremacist, in Jersey City, it was people who were sympathetic to the Black Hebrew Israelite movement. And then in Colleyville, Texas, it was Muslim extremists from Britain. Ostensibly, these things have no connection to each other. But if you look at the ideology of all the perpetrators, they all acted because they believed that Jews controlled American society, were responsible for its problems, and you know it had outsized influence over it. The white supremacist attacked the synagogue because he thought that Jews were responsible for flooding the country with the brown people that he hated as part of what he called the great replacement of the white race. The Black Hebrew Israelite sympathizers, who attacked the kosher supermarket, one of them had written on social media about how the Jews controlled the government. And the Islamic extremist who held that synagogue hostage in Texas did so because he thought that American Rabbis held sway over America's authorities and could get somebody released from prison nearby. So all of these very dangerous and deadly antisemitic attacks were actually motivated by this conspiracy theory of Jewish control.

Mark Oppenheimer 

Conspiratorial thinking is powerful, and antisemitism is an old and virulent form of conspiratorial thinking. People have been believing conspiracy theories about Jews for at least a millennia. In the United States, conspiracy thinking didn't even become the dominant form of antisemitism until the early 20th century. For that we can blame Henry Ford of the Ford Motor Company. In addition to giving the world affordable automobiles produced on an assembly line, he also popularized a deadly conspiracy theory based on a Russian hoax in the early 20th century. And since that time, conspiratorial thinking has been the main form of anti-semitism in the US. And we'll get back to Henry Ford and his role in this. But there are other strains of anti-semitism. And over the course of this series, we'll explore the ways that Jews were systematically denied citizenship rights in colonial America, and in many places after the American Revolution. We'll talk about how Christian missionaries attempted to convert Jews. We'll talk about laws that made it difficult for Jews to practice their religion. We'll explain how Jews were kept out of elite Hotels and Resorts. We'll talk about the rise of scientific racism in the 19th century. We'll see how conspiracy theories infected the general population and even parts of the US government. We will examine how the government failed to help Jewish refugees before, during, and after the Holocaust. And we will talk about the rise of anti-Zionism and how it can serve as a thin veneer over anti-semitism. And we'll talk about the recent rise of white supremacist antisemitism in the contemporary United States. By most any measure anti-semitism is on the rise in the US, according to a survey by the Anti Defamation League in 2022 1/5 of Americans hold extensively antisemitic views. And we'll dig into that data in a later episode. For now, what matters is that this is the highest percentage that the ADL has seen in many years. White supremacists and Neo Nazis have grown in strength and significance. So too has antisemitic vandalism in public schools and on synagogue walls. Everyday instances of antisemitic slurs or low level violence and harassment of Jews have also grown significantly. Public figures from politicians to celebrities routinely bring up anti semitic ideas. Jews are harassed on college campuses.

Mark Oppenheimer 

Where did this all come from?

Mark Oppenheimer 

We'll dive in after the break.

Mark Oppenheimer 

Aaron Lopez and his family had gotten used to adapting. The Lopez's were Sephardic Jews from Portugal. They were conversos, Jews who had outwardly converted to Catholicism, but had privately maintained their Jewish identity and practice. Under threat from the Portuguese Inquisition, the family started emigrating to the British colonies around 1740. Prior to this moment, Aaron Lopez wasn't called Aaron Lopez. He was known as Duarte or Edward Lopez. But when he emigrated, he adopted a Jewish name Aaron. He was also circumcised at the age of 20. In the early 1750s,  Aaron Lopez settled in Newport, Rhode Island. In the colonies, he could be a new man, a Jewish man, and as it came to pass a rich man. In fact, Lopez became Newport's richest man. At one point he paid twice as much in taxes as the next wealthiest man in the city. He traded in soap, candles made from sperm whale oil, and slaves. In a partnership with his father in law, he backed ships that forcibly brought hundreds of enslaved men, women and children from Africa to the Caribbean and South Carolina. Now, there's an antisemitic canard out there that it was primarily Jews who were responsible for the slave trade. That is far from the truth. Jewish merchants in fact, played a pretty small role. But trading and human beings was one thing that made Lopez and his family rich. He also owned slaves himself. Lopez had the respect of many of his Christian neighbors. Ezra Stiles, a longtime Newport minister, and later president of Yale College, praised Lopez as "a merchant of eminence of polite and amiable manners, hospitality, liberality, and benevolence were his true characteristics." In other words, according to Stiles, Lopez was an ideal member of the community, except for one thing. Lopez was a Jew. Rhode Island had a long tradition of religious toleration and pluralism. The colonies 1663 charter declared that its inhabitants would, quote, have and enjoy his and their own judgments and consciences in matters of religious concernments. On September 9 1761, Lopez and another Jewish merchant, Isaac Eliezer, petitioned the Superior Court of Newport to become naturalized as British subjects under the Plantation Act of 1740. This Act gave individuals the right to obtain naturalization after seven years of residence in the British colonies. Normally, the procedure involved taking an oath of allegiance to the crown and making a profession of Protestant Christianity. But the 1740 Act exempted both Quakers and Jews from this requirement. The right to worship as he pleased was probably just one of Lopez's motivations for naturalization. Parliament restricted foreign immigrants like him from fully participating in Britain's commercial empire. So Lopez had a few reasons for wanting the same rights as a natural born subject of King George the Third. After Lopez and Eliezer submitted their petitions to the Newport Superior Court, things seemed to be going as expected. On September 10, they took the oath of allegiance as the Plantation Act required. So far, so good. But then, a month later, the colony's legislature essentially denied their petition. That's, it said that yes, Lopez and Eliezer could be admitted as lawful subjects of the king with the right to purchase land and pass it on to their heirs. But the good news stopped there. And the legislature was very clear about why it's because they were Jews. The legislature's lower house wrote,

Rhode Island Legislature 

as the said Aaron Lopez hath declared himself to be by religion a Jew. This assembly doth not admit him, nor any other of that religion to the full freedom of the colony to be chosen into any office, nor allowed to give a vote as a free man.

Mark Oppenheimer 

Eliezer's petition got the same treatment. The two Jews could buy land but they could not hold office or vote. You might be saying wait a second, what about Rhode Island being a haven for religious freedom? Well, the court argued that the colony's 1663 charter enshrined "the free and quiet enjoyment of the Christian religion." Therefore, the petitions of Lopez and Eliezer were, quote, "absolutely inconsistent" with the colony's "first principles." According to the minister Ezra Stiles, the court handled the petition in a way that seemed designed to give offence to Lopez and Eliezer. For example, on the day the court ruled on their petitions, the court also ordered a thief to be hung and sent an arsonist to the gallows and a perjurer to the stocks. Only then did the court call in Lopez and Eliezer. Here's what Ezra Stiles had to say about the court's behavior on that day.

Ezra Stiles 

The Jews were called to hear their almost equally mortifying sentence and judgment, which dismissed their petition for naturalization. Whether this was designedly or accidental and proceeding upon the business of the court, I don't learn.

Mark Oppenheimer 

So Stiles believed that the two Jews were deliberately thrown into that day's court session with the thief, the arsonist and the perjurer. All to be handled together, as if to send a message. Now, neither Lopez nor Eliezer were inclined to just shrug their shoulders at the insult. Eliezer obtained his naturalization from New York. In that colony, Jews could vote and hold office. In fact, it was the only mainland British colony where Jews enjoyed such liberties. Lopez moved to Massachusetts for three weeks and got naturalized there. Naturalization didn't mean he could vote or hold office but it formalized his right to live in the colony and own land. For Lopez, it was basically a screw you to Rhode Island, and then he moved back to Newport. The years leading up to the American Revolution were not easy for Aaron Lopez. Several colonies decided to stop importing British goods until Parliament repealed what they considered unlawful taxes. This cut into the profits of merchants like Lopez and he skirted both non importation agreements and British taxes. Ezra Stiles, who otherwise admired Lopez, called him quote, "a Jew merchant," for enriching himself at the expense of the Patriotic cause. After the War for Independence broke out in 1775, Lopez made his peace with the Patriot cause and American independence. After the Patriots won, Lopez praised what he called a "glorious" American victory at Yorktown. And then, alas, he met a rather inglorious demise. On his way back to Newport in 1782. Lopes stopped to water his horse in a pond. He didn't realize how deep the pond was, and he drowned with his family watching. When they looked back on the life of Aaron Lopez, the residents of Newport noted his great wealth, but they often did so with an air of resentment. They wondered, why was he so much wealthier than his neighbors? Perhaps his gains were ill gotten. Even those that didn't come from slaving. His neighbors accused him of breaking patriotic agreements, bribing customs officials, and passing off worthless continental paper money to unsuspecting farmers. The history of Newport's Jewish community became less glorious after the US had won its independence. Not all of those who had fled the British occupation moved back. And some who did return later moved to New York and other cities. Back in 1763, Newport's synagogue congregation Yeshuat Israel had finished building an elegant building. It was later named for Isaac Touro, who was the synagogues hazan or cantor. But now, after the war, the building became more and more empty. This wasn't because of anti semitism. It's just that for Jewish merchants who aspire to be full citizens of the United States, there were simply better opportunities in other cities. In 1789, George Washington was elected the first President of the United States under the new federal Constitution. Early in his presidency, he toured New England, but he skipped Rhode Island because it hadn't yet ratified the Constitution. After Rhode Island finally agreed to ratify the Constitution, Washington went for a visit in August 1790. That day went the same way that every day goes. When you're the president visiting a city. The whole town turned out and there were lots of speeches. But in the 18th century, speeches were often written in the form of a letter. The town leaders made a speech, the Masons made a speech, the Christian clergy made a speech, lots and lots of speeches. The Jewish congregation of Newport was also invited to make a speech in the form of a letter written by Moses Seixas, the synagogue's warden. The letter starts by asserting that quote, "the children of the stock of Abraham" joined their "fellow citizens" in welcoming Washington to Newport. That sounds bland, but it's actually a rather significant claim. These Jews understood themselves as fellow citizens of the new nation, not just refugees, or grudgingly tolerated outsiders, fellow citizens. In fact, their letter noted that the Jews of Newport had "heretofore" been "deprived of the invaluable rights of free citizens." They may have been thinking of Rhode Island's treatment of Aaron Lopez and Isaac Eliezer. The implication was that going forward, they would not be denied those rights. Seixas and his fellow congregants made clear their aspiration for a future in which their rights were secure. Here's what Moses Seixas wrote.

Moses Seixas 

Deprived as we heretofore have been of the invaluable rights of free citizens, We now with a deep sense of gratitude to the Almighty, disposer of all events, behold a government, erected by the majesty of the people, a government which to bigotry gives no sanction, to persecution no assistance, but generously affords to all liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenships. Deeming every one, of whatever nation, tongue or language equal parts of the great governmental machine?

Mark Oppenheimer 

Now, when President Washington made it to New York City a few days later, he sent a letter back to the Hebrew congregation in Newport, and Washington's response incorporated the language and the ideals of the congregation. Here's what Washington had to say,

George Washington 

all possess a like liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the government of the United States which gives to bigotry, no sanction, to persecution, no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens.

Mark Oppenheimer 

And then Washington closed with his favorite reference from the book of Micah from the Hebrew Bible,

George Washington 

may the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the goodwill of the other inhabitants, while everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.

Mark Oppenheimer 

It's a powerful vision.

Mark Oppenheimer 

There weren't many places on Earth where Jews were able to dwell safely and in freedom. Washington was fond of describing his beloved home at Mount Vernon as his vine and fig tree. And in this letter, he was promising that the small Newport Jewish community could experience the same safety that he had as the president and commander in chief. And how were American Jews going to experience that peace and safety? Washington had advanced a powerful idea that minority religious and ethnic groups like the Jews didn't deserve toleration. Instead, they had inherent natural rights. In other words, religious freedom wasn't something that the powerful gave to the weak, it was something all humans inherently deserved. And then there are those famous words that Washington borrowed from Seixas that the United States government would give to bigotry, no sanction, to persecution, no assistance. The remarkable thing is that those words which were reprinted in newspapers across the country, were not literally true. In 1790, the Constitution prevented a religious test or oath from being used to bar religious minorities from office. But there was no bill of rights yet, that wouldn't be ratified until the following year. And once the bill of rights had been added to the Constitution, those first 10 amendments along with the ban on religious tests or oaths, applied only to the federal government, not to the states. And that wouldn't change for more than a century. At the time, Washington wrote his letter, Jews still could not vote or hold office in Rhode Island. And that was the case in most states. To bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance was a powerful ideal, an ideal shared by both the nation's first president and by the Jews of Newport. But it wasn't reality, not yet. Moses Seixas worked in commerce, helped organize the state bank, and was the leader of Rhode Island's Masons. He knew how the world worked. And he knew that Jews weren't guaranteed a place in it. The Jews of Newport knew that history. They knew what the present reality was. They also knew what the ideals of their new nation were. And they were determined to make those ideals a reality. Seixas and the Newport synagogue ended their letter to Washington with a wish.

Moses Seixas 

When like Joshua, full of days and full of honor, you are gathered to your Fathers, may you be admitted into the heavenly paradise to partake of the water of life and the tree of immortality.

Mark Oppenheimer 

Since before the founding of the Republic, American Jews have faced discrimination, opposition, exclusion, hatred, violence, slander, and conspiratorial thinking. What Seixas and his fellow Jews wanted was no less than what Washington took for granted - to live peacefully under their own vine and fig tree in a country where they too would be, as Washington powerfully declared himself in his last will and testament, a citizen of the United States.

Mark Oppenheimer 

Thank you for listening to Antisemitism, U.S.A. it's a production of R2 Studios part of the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. Visit R2studios.org for a complete transcript of today's episode and for suggestions for further reading. I'm your host Mark Oppenheimer. Antisemitism, U.S.A. is written by John Turner and Lincoln Mullen. Britt Tevis is our lead scholar Jim Ambuske is our producer, Jeanette Patrick is our executive producer. We'd like to thank Zef Eleff for being our lead advisor and we'd like to thank our advisory board members, Laura Shaw Frank, Riv-Ellen Prell, and Jonathan Sarna. Our graduate assistants are Rachel Birch, Alexandra Miller, and Amber Pelham. And our thanks to Yair Rosenberg for sharing his expertise with us in this episode. We're able to bring you this show through the generosity of the Henry Luce Foundation, the David Bruce Smith Foundation, and many individual donors like you. Thank you for listening, and we hope you'll join us for the next episode.