Rabbi At The First Thanksgiving

Reverend Gershom Mendes Seixas was the only Jewish American founding father. He preached the first national Thanksgiving sermon in 1789, led Shearith Israel through the Revolution by rescuing its Torah scrolls, and stood as the sole Jewish emissary at Washington’s inauguration. He helped found King’s College and established New York’s oldest Jewish philanthropic society, shaping Jewish life at the birth of the nation.