Own A Piece Of American Jewish History

The lot where Revolutionary War finacer Haym Salomon's house once stood on what is now the olderst continuously occupied residential street in the entire country is for sale. Salomon not only helped finance the war effort, he personally lent money (often at little or no interest) to many of the Founding Fathers, raised the money for George Washington's Yorktown Campaign that ended the war with an American victory, and gave bequests to people he considered to be unsung heroes of the war who were impoverished after it. He also appears to have gifted pensions to some of the Founding Fathers, including James Madison.

Above: Haym Salomon 

Own A Piece Of American – And American Jewish – History
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

Elfreth’s Alley in Philadelphia is reportedly the oldest continuously occupied residential street in the entire country.

The lot that the home 133-35 Elfreth’s Alley is built on is supposed to be where Reveolutionary war finacer Haym Salomon lived. (The house appears to be built in the early 1800s on the spot where Solomon's house stood, but I can't find the build date online.)

Salomon not only helped finance the war effort, he personally lent money (often at little or no interest) to many of the Founding Fathers, raised the money for George Washington's Yorktown Campaign that ended the war with an American victory, and gave bequests to people he considered to be unsung heroes of the war who were impoverished after it. He also appears to have gifted pensions to some of the Founding Fathers, including James Madison.

Salomon also likely sat on what is the first known beit din held in America.

However, the man who had come to America as a poor refugee eventually lost all the money he made – most of it through loans he made to the government, to the Continental Army and to needy Revolutionary War figures that were not repaid.

He died a poor man and is buried outside the Mikveh Israel Synagogue in Philadelphia.

At any rate, that property is coming on the market soon according to Bloomberg, so if anyone is looking for a historic home in Philadelphia with a bit of extra meaning for Jews that is located about 2 blocks from the Betsy Ross House and about 6 blocks from the Liberty Bell, now's your moment.

The house that currently stands on 133-35 Elfreth's Aly:

Comments

[Allan]

A true hero of both American and Jewish history. There is also an excellent short film from 1939 about his story starring Claude Rains as Haym Salomon.

[Chum Lee]

Hey man, my boss Rick from Pawn Stars wants to know why you are ripping that line from us about owning a piece of American history.

[Winner]

Allan, What's the name of the film?

[BronxJew]

@Winner
The film is called "Sons of Liberty". It won the Oscar in 1940 for Best Short-Subject.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sons_of_Liberty_(film)

[Old Philadelphia Hebrew]

The idea that Haym Salomon died poor is a myth. He died in debt, yes. But he still had his businesses, and he had income coming in to service that debt. He lived quite well until his untimely death.

He also did not sit on a Beit Din. The Philadelphia Jewish community (composed of both Western Sephardim and Germans) did not have an ordained Rabbi, much less a Beit Din. Instead, they had a self-taught Hazan/Minister (the Rev. Gershom Mendes Sexias, and later the Rev. Jacob Raphael Cohen).

The lack of the Beit Din caused significant problems for the Philadelphia community. For instance, the community was 75-80% male and, correspondingly, had about a 75-80% intermarriage rate. There were several occasions when women offered to convert. But, without a Beit Din, there was no one who could convert them (although the community had no objection to conversion per se). Also, without a Beit Din, the community was forced to largely take its Halachic guidance from the parent communities in Amsterdam and London, despite the difficulties with communication.

[Yahoshua David]

Thanks for the non folklore history. It seems that Santa clause traces back to that dutch community. I have to double check. That would have been in the late 1800's because the Kriss Kingle thing was most popular with the dutch. CocaCola later makes it mainstream. Oddly enough it was also the british in the late 1800's that gave the idea of climbing down the chimney the night before Christmas.

But I never knew who that guy even was. im amazed at how much of a leading role the Jews used to be. Something happened.. Around 1940's and onward.. Then realy went downhill in the 70's, and with each decade got exponentialky worse until today.

[Minna Roisa]

Elfreth''s Alley would be a wonderful place to live. The interiors of the homes are as beautiful as the exteriors. A couple blocks away you can hail a horse-drawn carriage. Nearby are many historical and cultural sites, including the Museum of American Jewish History.

[MM]

Elfreth's Alley is a wonderful place to live if you don't mind being a tourist attraction. Tourists seem to be under the impression that Elfreth's Alley is rather like Disney World. They don't relate to the fact that the houses are real residences of real people living their daily lives. So the tourists peer in the windows, hang around the doors, etc., just as if Elfreth's Alley is Diagon Alley. Not everyone can handle random strangers all over their business.

Also having lived in a colonial-period Father-Son-and-Holy-Ghost house around Eighth and Lombard, I can tell you that these old houses, however quaint and adorable and however renovated, are not entirely suited to 21st century life.