I bet you’ve never heard of Asser Levy . . . 

You might think that Jewish immigrants began coming to New York City from Europe in the 19th and 20th Centuries.  Actually, New York has been a safe haven for Jews since the 1600s, thanks in large part to Asser Levy. 

Asser Levy was born early in 1600, when the Catholic Inquisition controlled much of Europe and routinely victimized Jews. Many sought to escape to European colonies, but few offered true safety to Jews. The Netherlands, a Protestant empire, offered hope.

Asser Levy, a wealthy Dutch merchant, a Burgher – member of the Middle Class –  heard about opportunities in the Dutch colonies and was intrigued by the promise of a new life. In 1654, he made his way to New Amsterdam, a successful settlement owned by the Dutch West India Company of North America. 

Artists rendering of the 23 Jewish refugees arriving in New Amsterdam. The 23 Jews who arrived are not the first Jews, to arrive in North America, but it is the first record we have of a group of men women and children arriving to make it their permanent home. (Historycentral.com 2022).

Shortly after Levy arrived in New Amsterdam, 23 desperate Spanish Jewish refugees arrived from Recife, Brazil, a Dutch colony seized by the Catholic Portuguese.  A wicked sea captain had stolen their money and property and had left the refugees penniless and starving.  New Netherlands’ Director General Peter Stuyvesant ordered that the group be sent back to Brazil, where they faced execution. 

Levy and another Jewish Dutchman Jacob Barsimon convinced the Dutch West India Company to open the city. Stuyvesant retaliated by levying a “Jewish tax”  to prevent their buying citizenship.  The Dutch West India Company again intervened and removed the tax. The refugees were granted Burgher rights as citizens of New Amsterdam.

In 1664, when the British captured New Amsterdam and renamed it New York, Levy took an oath of loyalty to the English crown.  Soon after, he was the first Jewish person to serve on a jury in North America.

 

After spending her youth and young adulthood babysitting then raising her own children, teaching English, directing youth theater, writing for New England publications, Carla Stockton left the comfort of the Connecticut suburbs to re-create her life. Today, she has earned an M.F.A. in Creative Nonfiction from Columbia University and is building a portfolio of freelance publications, of blog site entries, and speaking engagements.