This episode of Jewish Voices, American Stories takes us back to the earliest chapters of American history—long before Ellis Island—when Jewish life was already taking root in a new and uncertain nation.

We begin at Touro Synagogue—the oldest synagogue in the United States. Built by a small community seeking religious freedom, it stands as a lasting symbol of a promise that would define America: that people of all faiths could worship freely and live without fear. That promise was powerfully affirmed in 1790, when President George Washington declared that the new nation would give “to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.”

From there, we move to the front lines of the American Revolution. Jimmy introduces us to Francis Salvador, the first known Jewish patriot to give his life for American independence—a man who c ...