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| OHCC LIVING | JULY 2026 | 35 Yiddish Club As America celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, different groups comprising the melting pot of our diverse society are focusing attention on their participation in the growth of the United States and its achievements. The Jewish community is no different. Jewish history in America began in 1654, when 25 Sephardic refugees from the Spanish Inquisition settled in New York and established North America's first synagogue. During the American Revolution, the vast majority of the 3,000 Jews living in the colonies supported the Patriot cause, and Haym Salomon, a financier, personally secured crucial loans to fund George Washington's army. In 1790, a year before the Bill of Rights was ratified, President Washington wrote a letter to the Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, affirming the principle of religious freedom, stating that America would give "to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance." The mid-19th century brought another wave of immigration, primarily consisting of German-speaking Jews. They settled in the Midwest, South and West as peddlers and merchants. During the Civil War, 10,000 Jews served on both sides of the conf lict; 70% were Union supporters. President Lincoln took several significant steps to protect Jews during the war by revoking General Grant's order banning Jews from his military district and reversing the rule that only Christians could be army chaplains. Between 1881 and 1924, anti-Jewish violence and poverty in Eastern Europe triggered a massive third round of immigration of Yiddish-speaking refugees. They crowded into New York's neighborhoods, where they made an important impact in America's labor movement and dominated the garment business. Their cultural force was most notably felt in their establishment of the motion picture industry. As the threat of annihilation of the Jews of Europe grew, the American Jewish community mobilized to support refugees. More than 500,000 Jewish American soldiers fought in World War II. In the postwar era, American Jews became part of the middle class, moved to the suburbs and accessed higher education in record numbers. They played a prominent role in the civil rights movement and gained significant representation in politics, law, academia, science and the arts. The United States is now home to 6.3 million Jews, second only to Israel's 7.1 million Jews. Let's go back in time and bring a little Yiddish to OHCC. Join us on Mon., Aug. 24 at 7 pm in Abravanel Hall for our 2nd Annual Yiddish Bingo! Submitted by Rob Ganz

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