Gershom Mendes Seixas

• Born: January 14, 1745
• Birthplace: New York, New York
• Died: July 2, 1816
• Place of death: New York, New York

Religious leader and activist

Seixas was instrumental in establishing a strong Jewish community in colonial America and assuring its continuation after the Revolutionary War.

Early Life

Gershom Mendes Seixas (gehr-SHOM MEHN-dehz SI-shas) was born in New York City on January 14, 1745. He was the son of Isaac Mendes Seixas and Rachel Levy. Gershom Mendes Seixas had six siblings, and he attended the school of Shearith Israel, where both religious and secular subjects were taught. The chazzan (reader) who served as the religious leader of the community was the teacher. When Seixas was a student there, the chazzan was Joseph Jessurun Pinto. Although Pinto was not an ordained rabbi, he had studied at a Sephardic yeshiva (school) in Amsterdam and was qualified to teach the religious courses. It was from Pinto that Seixas learned the Torah (Jewish law).

In 1766, Pinto returned to Europe to take the position of chazzan in the Sephardic community of Hamburg, Germany. In July of 1768, Seixas submitted his candidacy for the position of chazzan of Shearith Israel. Seixas was successful in his bid for the position and became chazzan of Shearith Israel at the age of twenty-three. In 1775, he married Elkaleh Cohen. In August, 1776, Seixas, who favored American independence from England, convinced the congregation of Shearith Israel to close the synagogue in view of the inevitable occupation of New York by British soldiers. He and his family fled to Connecticut, where his father-in-law lived. In 1780, Seixas went to Philadelphia, where he served as chazzan of the congregation Mikveh Israel. In 1782, under his leadership, Mikveh Israel constructed a new synagogue. With the end of the war, the congregation of Shearith Israel returned to New York City and reopened the synagogue. They asked Seixas to return and resume his position of chazzan. At the time, Seixas’s wife was ill, and he did not accept the offer immediately. In 1784, he did return to Shearith Israel, and his wife died one year later, in 1785.

Life’s Work

Seixas would spend the rest of his life as chazzan of Shearith Israel and become recognized as the leading authority of Judaism in New York. Although there is evidence of a certain amount of anti-Semitism during this time, Seixas was involved in the non-Jewish community. In 1784, he was appointed to the board of regents of Columbia University (called Columbia College at the time). In 1787, he was invited to participate in the inauguration of George Washington. On November 1, 1789, he once again married; his second wife was Hannah Manuel.

One of Seixas’s main concerns as the religious leader of the New York Jewish community was providing aid to the poor. He was instrumental in the founding of Kalfe Sedaka Mattan Besether (Fund for Charity and Anonymous Gifts). It was also due to his efforts that Hebra Hased Va Amet, a free burial society, was established in 1802. Seixas also placed great importance on the congregation’s full observance of the Torah, and in his sermons he expounded on the fact that the Jews were still in exile from Israel and still in need of earning redemption. Seixas also served as a posek (authority) for New York, giving opinions on halacha (Jewish law) and its application to situations arising in the lives of members of the New York Jewish community.

In addition to serving the congregation of Shearith Israel, Seixas traveled throughout the Northeast United States to provide rituals and rites to Jewish communities that were without a qualified religious leader to perform them. The American Jewish community was small and lacked the scholarly environment sought by ordained rabbis, and there were few in America at the time. While he was not a rabbi, Seixas had studied the Torah and the essential Jewish writings, and he had received instruction in the various rituals from Pinto, such that his education qualified him to serve these communities. He was trained as a mohel (to perform circumcisions) and as a shochet (to perform ritual slaughter). Seixas was, in fact, the only mohel in New York and in the entire Northeast. In 1811, he made a thirty-four-day trip into Canada to circumcise four children. During the later years of his life, he suffered from ill health, which caused him considerable suffering. However, he continued as the chazzan of Shearith Israel until his death on July 2, 1816.

Significance

Seixas played a highly important role in early American Judaism. He believed that full observance of the Torah and all of the ritualistic practices of Judaism were essential to the redemption of himself and his fellow Jews. In order to maintain full religious observance, he accepted responsibility as the religious leader, not only of Shearith Israel but also of all Jewish individuals in the Northeast. In this way, he maintained the ties of American Judaism with traditional European Judaism. While Seixas viewed the Jewish community as a religiously distinctive and united entity, he also realized the importance of interaction with the non-Jewish community, and he encouraged participation in the political, economic, and social life of the larger community. Thus he contributed to establishing Judaism in America while also helping members of the Jewish community to consider themselves Americans.

Bibliography

Marcus, Jacob R. The Handsome Priest in the Black Gown: The Personal World of Gershom Seixas. Cincinnati, Ohio: American Jewish Archives, 1970. Detailed biography of Seixas, showing him as a religious leader and as a private individual.

Pencak, William. Jews and Gentiles in Early America, 1654-1800. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2005. Concentrates on interaction of the Jewish community with non-Jewish communities, discusses anti-Semitism, and compares prejudice against Jews to that against other minorities.

Sarna, Jonathan D. American Judaism: A History. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2004. Excellent overview of American Judaism. Treats religious, social, and political history of Seixas’s role in American Judaism. Includes timeline of Judaism in America, glossary, and selected bibliography.