George Washington’s Jewish Correspondence

George Washington’s Jewish Correspondence

In a letter that will go on display before Independence Day, George Washington conveys his commitment to one of America’s founding principles while corresponding with the Jewish community.

At the center of “To Bigotry No Sanction: George Washington and Religious Freedom”—an exhibit opening June 29 at the National Museum of American Jewish History (NMAJH) in Philadelphia—is a letter written by Washington in August 1790 to Congregation Jeshuat Israel in Newport, R.I., now called the Touro Synagogue, in which Washington expresses his revolutionary understanding of religious freedom.