In August 1776, as British forces prepared to seize New York City, the spiritual leader of Manhattan's only synagogue faced a difficult choice.
He could remain in the city and continue serving his congregation under British rule or abandon his home and join the growing number of Americans fleeing the advancing enemy.
Gershom Mendes Seixas, a 31-year-old Jewish clergyman, chose the latter.
Before leaving, he delivered an emotional farewell sermon at Congregation Shearith Israel, warning that it might be the last service held in the synagogue for some time. According to a historical account, his words were so moving that members of the congregation wept.
Seixas then arranged for the synagogue's Torah scrolls, prayer books and ceremonial objects to be removed for safekeeping before departing the city. His decision reflected a commitment to American independence that would define much of his life.
Born in New York City on January 14, 1745, Seixas was the son of Isaac Mendes Seixas, a Portuguese-born Jewish merchant, and Rachel Levy, whose family was of Ashkenazi descent.
His father's family had experienced the religious persecution that drove countless Jews from the Iberian Peninsula, eventually finding refuge in England before making its way to colonial America.
Growing up in New York's small Jewish community, Gershom received a Jewish education and developed an early interest in religious scholarship. In 1768, at the age of 23, he became the spiritual leader of Congregation Shearith Israel, the Spanish and Portuguese synagogue founded in 1654.
Although frequently described as a rabbi, Seixas was never formally ordained. His official title was hazzan, or cantor, but his responsibilities extended well beyond leading prayers.
He taught Jewish law, performed circumcisions, officiated at religious ceremonies and served as the principal religious authority for New York's approximately 300 Jews. He was also the first American-born Jew to lead a synagogue congregation.
When tensions between Britain and its American colonies erupted into revolution, Seixas made his sympathies clear. Unlike some members of his congregation, particularly merchants whose livelihoods depended on British trade, he openly supported the cause of independence.
New York was a stronghold of Loyalist sentiment, and Jewish families, like their Christian neighbors, were divided over the rebellion. Nevertheless, Seixas refused to conceal his allegiance.
As British forces approached Manhattan in 1776, he closed the synagogue and fled to Stratford, Connecticut, where he remained for several years. In 1780, Seixas moved to Philadelphia, which had become a refuge for Jewish Patriots, and assumed leadership of Congregation Mikveh Israel. There, he continued using his pulpit to champion the American cause.
At the dedication of the congregation's new synagogue building, Seixas publicly invoked God's blessing upon the Continental Congress and George Washington, commander of the American forces. His support for the Revolution was part of a broader family commitment to American independence.
His brother Abraham served as an officer in the Continental Army, while another brother, Benjamin, was active in the Patriot militia and later helped establish the New York Stock Exchange.
Seixas was also involved in the struggle for religious liberty, which remained a contentious issue even among those who supported independence. In December 1783, while still in Philadelphia, he joined other Jewish leaders in petitioning Pennsylvania authorities to remove a religious test that effectively barred Jews from holding public office. Although the discriminatory requirement was not eliminated immediately, it was eventually removed under Pennsylvania's Constitution of 1790.
After the British evacuated New York in November 1783, Seixas returned to his native city in March 1784 and resumed his position at Shearith Israel. In 1787, he became a trustee of Columbia College, serving alongside prominent figures such as Alexander Hamilton and John Jay. He remained on the board until 1815 and was the institution's only Jewish trustee for more than a century.
His appointment at Columbia was not the only indication of his growing prominence outside the Jewish community. Seixas developed close relationships with Christian clergymen, occasionally speaking before their congregations and welcoming them to his synagogue. His prominence was further underscored on April 30, 1789, when George Washington was inaugurated as the first president of the United States.
According to historical accounts, Seixas was among the 14 clergymen who participated in the inaugural observances, a notable recognition of the place of Jews in the newly established republic.
Later that year, on November 26, 1789, Seixas delivered a sermon that revealed how he understood the place of Jews in the new republic. Responding to Washington's proclamation of a national day of thanksgiving and prayer, Seixas drew on Psalm 100 and urged American Jews to recognize the opportunities offered by their new country. They were, he declared, "equal partakers of every benefit that results from this good government."
With those benefits, however, came responsibilities. Seixas urged his listeners to support the nation's laws and institutions, contribute to the public good and conduct themselves as loyal citizens. He reminded them that Jews had a particular reason to be grateful for America, where they could worship according to their conscience without suffering discrimination on account of their religion.
His sermon was subsequently published and attracted attention beyond the Jewish community. The New York Daily Gazette praised it as the first discourse of its kind delivered in English in the state, commending its message of morality and devotion.
The issue of religious liberty was also close to the heart of Seixas's younger brother Moses, who had become a prominent Jewish leader in Newport, Rhode Island. In 1790, Moses addressed a letter to President Washington on behalf of Newport's Hebrew congregation, expressing gratitude for the religious freedom enjoyed by Jews in the new republic.
Washington's response contained one of the most celebrated statements of religious tolerance in American history, declaring that the United States would give "to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance."
For the Seixas family, whose ancestors had known the terrors of religious persecution, those words carried particular significance.
Gershom Mendes Seixas continued to preach the importance of public service throughout his life. During the War of 1812, he urged his congregation to support the government and help families suffering from the conflict. He also introduced the practice of reciting prayers for the American government in English reflecting the growing identification of American Jews with their new country.
Despite his embrace of American civic life, Seixas never suggested that Jews should abandon their distinctive identity. He believed they could remain faithful to their ancestral traditions while participating fully in the affairs of America.
Nearly 40 years after fleeing British-occupied New York with his congregation's Torah scrolls, Seixas died on July 2, 1816, at the age of 71.
By then, the young republic he had supported through the Revolution had become a country in which Jews could practice their religion openly and participate in public life. Seixas had helped make that possible, not by fighting on the battlefield, but by standing up for American independence when its outcome was far from certain.
His story is a reminder that the struggle for American liberty was fought not only by soldiers and statesmen, but also by a Jewish clergyman who refused to remain silent when his country was fighting for its freedom.