The American Revolution is often told through the stories of high-stakes battles and the Founding Fathers. But a vital element is often overlooked: the small but resilient Jewish community that helped shape our fledgling nation.
In March 2026, Jonathan Sarna, professor emeritus of American Jewish History at Brandeis University, kicked off 70 Faces Media’s year-long virtual lecture series celebrating the United States Semiquincentennial, “250 Years of Jewish Life in America” — co-presented by the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History — with a presentation about the roles Jews played during the Colonial era and the Revolutionary War.
“Most Americans (Jews included) have no idea that Jews were in the U.S. in 1776, let alone what they did,” Sarna said via email ahead of the event.
Keep scrolling for nine key details about Jews and Jewish life in America at the time of the Revolution — including a recently unearthed diary that shows Jews were held as prisoners of war by the British, who even attempted to force their captives to eat pork, in violation of Jewish law.
Keep My Jewish Learning free. In this season of freedom, help us keep Jewish connection and meaning free for everyone. Your support ensures that anyone seeking Jewish wisdom can find it here, without needing to cross the red sea (or a paywall).
If you’re interested in learning more about little-known facets of American Jewish history, be sure to catch our next lecture, “Sword of Abraham, Shield of Davis: The Everyday Experiences of Jews in the Civil War” with University of Cape Town Professor Adam Mendelsohn on Thursday, April 16, at 12 p.m. ET. (Sign up here.) And if you’d like to subscribe to the entire “250 Years of Jewish Life in America” series, click here.
- Some 1,500 to 2,000 Jews lived in the country at the time of the American Revolution. They primarily lived in port cities — Newport, Rhode Island; New York; Philadelphia; Charleston, South Carolina; and Savannah, Georgia, Sarna said. Many of them were merchants or traders.
- The Jewish population consisted of both Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews. Some of the Jews in the colonies spoke Yiddish; others spoke Spanish and Portuguese. However, as Sarna pointed out, most surviving documents from the era were written in English.
- The Jewish community was divided in its support. “The majority, when forced to choose, unquestionably chose independence, but there were Tories,” Sarna said about the Jewish population at the time, noting that native-born Jews were more likely to support the Revolution than immigrants. Business considerations — specifically, “How much does one have to lose from a revolution?” — were also a factor.
- About 100 Jews fought in the Revolutionary War. “From the very beginning, Jews did fight for their freedom,” Sarna said.
- Charleston was home to a local militia that had a significant number of Jews. Sometimes referred to as the “Jews’ Company,” the group was led by General Richard Lushington. A Quaker and therefore an outsider, Lushington recruited fellow outsiders, including Jews. “In America, unlike in Britain, Jews could rise up in the ranks; there was not a fear of Jews giving, so to speak, orders to non-Jews,” Sarna said.
- Jews were also prisoners of war. A few years ago, “intrepid bounty hunters” raised up a Revolutionary War-era ship that had sunk off the coast of Savannah, Sarna said. On the ship, they discovered the diary of Congregationalist Minister Moses Allen, who described the plight of his fellow prisoners of war, Mordechai Sheftall and his son. “Pork for dinner,” Allen wrote. “The Jews Mr. Sheftall & son refused to eat their pieces & their knives & fork were ordered to be greased with it. It is a happiness that Mr. Sheftall is a fellow sufferer. He bears it with such fortitude as is an example to me.” According to Sarna: “This is what Jews call Kiddush HaShem; he sanctified God’s name by not publicly eating the pork that the British taunted him with.”
- Some Jews suffered great losses. Aaron Lopez, for example, had arrived in Newport as a converso from the Iberian Peninsula. In the New World, he became a Jewish leader and was “tremendously successful as a merchant,” Sarna said. When the British conquered Newport, Lopez suffered “enormous losses” and went into exile in Leicester, England. Meanwhile, Savannah resident France Sheftall — wife of aforementioned Mordechai Sheftall — wrote in a letter to her husband, “We have had no less than six Jewish children buried since the [siege].”
- The Revolution paved the way for a unified American Jewish community. Just like the Revolutionary War gave way to an independent, unified United States of America, it also helped unite previously disparate Jewish communities. Prior to the revolution, “Each colony [was] its own story, even religiously,” Sarna said.
- The word “Christianity” is not written into any of our founding documents. “It’s not because they forgot the word,” Sarna said, “it’s because they wanted that kind of breadth.” By the time of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, the largest Jewish community in the country was in Philadelphia, Sarna noted. “A lot of the founders are spending lots of time in Philadelphia, so they see Jews,” he said. “If we’re setting up a new nation that’s going to be based on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for everybody, that means everybody, including Jews.” He added: “Jews took great pride in the fact that they could be citizens in the new nation.”
For more information about “250 Years of Jewish Life in America,” co-presented by 70 Faces Media and the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, click here.
