Yeshiva University - Masmid Yearbook (New York, NY)

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SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE SYNAGOGUE INTERIOR of Congregation Shearilh Israel, founded in 1654. (Courtesy of Congregation Shearith Israel). finally, the rights of citizenship. Their synagogue Shearith Israel, the first on American soil, main- tains to this day the ceremonies and traditions of these Sephardic Jews. Other Jews soon sought out the New World. They settled in New York. Philadelphia, Newport, Boston and in other cities along the coast, so that by 1800 there were 2,500 Jews in the United States. They were mainly engaged in the shipping industry, which brought new wealth to the country. They organized their own communities where they had the right to build synagogues and worship as they pleased. During the nineteenth century, immigration con- tinually increased from Germany and Poland and was later supplemented with immigration from Russia and Roumania. The Jews of Western Europe brought to this country new philanthropic and social institutions, which were to be enriched with the scholarly Talmudic traditions of Eastern European Jewry. Today, five million Jews in America, comprising the world ' s largest Jewish community, are weaving their pattern of Jewish life from the religious, social and educational traditions of their common past together with contemporary American institutions. With the Holy Land as a renewed center of vibrant Jewish life, may American Jewry and Jews the world over turn to Zion for inspiration to expand their spiritual horizons. OLD JERUSALEM as viewed from beyond the walls of the city. (Courtesy of Zionist Archives). THE WESTERN WALL last remains of the Temple of Jerusalem, presently under Arab control. (Courtesy of Zionist Archives).

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OLD JERUSALEM AND THE NEW WORLD ' For out of Zion will go forth The Law and the word of G-d from Jerusalem . . JERUSALEM became the capital of the Jewish nation when King David conquered this former Jebusite stronghold and subsequently, moved the Ark of the Covenant into the city. However, Jewish tradition assigns to Jerusalem a pre-Davidic significance: Mount Moriah, the site of Solomon ' s Temple was the site of Abraham ' s intended sacrifice of Isaac. According to the Talmud, Jerusalem, as the chosen city of God, received nine of the ten measures of charm given to the world. The city flourished under the Davidic dynasty, as the economic and political center of the nation. Its greatest significance, however, then and through the ages, was spiritual. Jerusalem witnessed the annual celebration of the Great Festivals and from Jerusalem came forth the prophetic doctrines of Justice, Righteousness and Peace. Yet the City of Peace was often the scene of conflict. Though miraculously saved from the sword of Sennacherib in 701 B.C.E., Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C.E. and the Temple was razed. During the Second Jewish Commonwealth, Jerusalem was involved in the power struggles of the Near East. The stirring Maccabean revolt in 165 B.C.E. and the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 C.E. were events precipitated by these struggles. The city was further degraded after Bar Kochba ' s unsuccessful uprising in 135 C.E., when it was transformed into the Roman colony of Aelia Capitolina. Though bereft of its position as both the political and geographic center of the Jewish people, Jeru- salem remained at the core of Jewish hopes for redemption and restoration through the long exile. The return to Zion was a recurring theme in Jewish prayer. Often the dream of return was realized by devoted pilgrims or false messiahs who attempted to hasten the end of days. Those who were un- able to make the trip themselves were generous in supporting the small Yishuv that always remain- ed, to study in the ancient city and to pray before the Western Wall — the vestige of the glory that was the Temple. The undying hope to return made possible the miraculous revival of Jerusalem during the past century. Jerusalem ' s present Jewish population of 165,000, represents a six-fold increase in the last half- century. New suburbs have been built outside the old walled city. New Jerusalem has become a cul- tural center, with its Hebrew University, Bezalel Museum, and religious institutions. The inhabitants of the besieged city played a valiant part in the War of Liberation that followed the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. Soon after, the Israeli government, cognizant of the Biblical and contemporary connection between the city and the Jewish people, established Jerusalem as the capital of the young state. Though a striving metropolis, Jewish Jerusalem does not yet encompass the Arab-held Old City, of especial significance to the Jews, who alone through the ages viewed the Old City as the sole center of their national and spiritual life. It is noteworthy that the first Jewish suburb outside the old walled City of Jerusalem was built with funds left by Judah Touro, an American Jew- ish patriot. Since that year of 1860, American Jewish support has been an important factor in the rebirth of Jerusalem and Israel, especially during the last decades. It is thus fitting that the three thousandth anniversary of Jerusalem as King David ' s capital coincides with the three hundredth anniversary of Jewish settlement in America. In September, 1654, twenty-three Spanish Portu- guese Jews arrived in Nieuw Amsterdam. They came from settlements in South America and the West Indies, where they had searched for religious freedom and the right to build a better life than they had known in the Old World. Their search brought them to the new colony at the mouth of the Hudson, where they were allowed to remain with difficulty, but later won the right to serve in the militia, to travel and to trade along the Hudson and Delaware Rivers. In subsequent years, they obtained permission to establish a Jewish burial ground, the privilege of owning real estate and 4 Ye shall proclaim liberty throughout the land, to all the inhabitants thereof . .

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A ODAY as you are leaving the four walls of Yeshiva, I wish to congratulate you on your past achievements and wish you great success in your future endeavors. Above all, you should remember the underlying principles which guide the destiny of your alma mater. The name Yeshiva College in itself is the greatest symbol of its purpose and philosophy. For the Yeshiva as an institution is not interested purely in mental gymnastics, in metaphysical speculations, in mere theory. The philosophy of Yeshiva has always been that theory must be translated into practice, being into doing, and learning must lead to moral and ethical disciplines based upon the divine and universal law of the Torah. The teach- ing of the Yeshiva is primarily dedicated to the spiritual and moral purposes of our daily lives. A liberal college of arts and sciences in the modern sense of the term is dedicated to the acquisition of human knowledge; to give the opportunity to the human mind to search and research into the myster- ies of the universe, to acquire a better understand- ing of the world in which we have been placed, to achieve a greater appreciation of the lives and destinies of peoples among whom we live. A col- lege of arts and sciences is primarily concerned with Man and his World. The purpose of Yeshiva College, therefore, is to create a unity between the Yeshiva and the College. The Yeshiva endeavors to give moral and spiritual purpose for human knowledge which the student acquires in the college of arts and sciences. I have abiding faith that you will govern your lives by the standards of the Torah, and by your American way of life, and that you will consider your education as a means to a great end — towards consecrated service to G-d and our fellowmen. I congratulate you and wish you well-being and well-doing. Sincerely yours, a-ts JL oii- = — - — SAMUEL BELKIN, President