THE EARLIEST EMISSARIES

Rabbi Malkhi was followed by Rabbi Raphael Carigal of Hebron who visited twice in 1771 and 1773, and then, two years later, by Rabbi Samuel Cohen of Jerusalem. But it was Rabbi Carigal who left a lasting impression in colonial America. He had, previously, visited the Jews of Surinam and Curacao and had, at one time, officiated as Chief Rabbi of Barbados. On Shavuot 1773, he was in Yeshuat Yisrael in Newport where he gave a sermon that was attended by Joseph Wanton, the Governor of Rhode Island, and Rev. Ezra Stiles, President of Yale. Entitled “The Salvation of Israel”, it was preached in Spanish and Hebrew and became the first Jewish sermon in America to be published. It was translated by one of the leading Jewish merchants of Newport during that time, Abraham Lopez. Halukkah was suspended during the Revolutionary War, but afterwards, it resumed.