Eternal Light 44-10-08 (0001) A Rhode Island Refuge

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode: Eternal Light 44-10-08 (0001) A Rhode Island Refuge

Date: January 9, 2026
Duration: Approx. 30 minutes
Main Theme: The origins of religious liberty in Colonial America as seen through the eyes of Jewish settlers in Newport, Rhode Island, focusing on their journey from persecution to refuge, and their role during the American Revolution.

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Overview

This premiere episode of “Eternal Light” dramatizes the early Jewish experience in Rhode Island, tracing a community’s search for religious freedom, its confrontation with ethical dilemmas, and its participation in the founding of the American Republic. The story is told primarily through the reminiscences of Mordecai, whose family fled persecution and found both opportunity and challenge in the New World.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Historical Context & Setting

• The episode opens in Newport’s old Jewish cemetery, with Mordecai reflecting on his ancestors' journey from Spain and Portugal to finding sanctuary in Rhode Island (01:46).
• Roger Williams’ legacy of religious tolerance is highlighted as fundamental to the community’s prosperity and spiritual life (03:45).

2. Community Life and Moral Conflict

• Mordecai’s father, Benjamin, is portrayed as a man of deep faith and moral conviction. He teaches Mordecai the foundational Jewish values of justice, mercy, and humility (02:54).
• The merchants of Newport are depicted as industrious and ethical, engaging in various trades and prospering under a culture of tolerance (03:55).

3. The Slavery Debate

• A poignant ethical confrontation occurs between Benjamin and fellow merchant Meyer Pollock over trading in molasses, rum, and by association, slaves (04:36–05:53).
  • Benjamin refuses to profit from anything linked to the slave trade, citing Biblical injunctions:
    Benjamin (05:12):

    “Because it is written, thou shalt not abhor an Edomite, for he is thy brother.”

• Despite economic hardship, Benjamin maintains his integrity, foreshadowing community values (06:04–06:59).

4. Forgiveness and Redemption

• Years later, after Meyer Pollock faces ruin, Benjamin offers reconciliation and support, revealing the power of compassion and forgiveness within the community (08:19–09:44).
  • Pollock admits he refrained from slave trading after reading a passage in Leviticus about not making one’s brother a bondservant.

5. Interfaith Relations and Daily Life

• The Sabbath is depicted as a time of togetherness and acceptance, with warm relationships between Jewish and Christian neighbors (10:29–11:51).
• Mordecai’s familial love and pride are palpable, grounding the historical narrative in personal experience.

6. Approaching Revolution

• Tensions arise in the community as the Revolutionary period draws near, and debates ensue about allegiance to England or joining the colonial cause (12:36–15:11).
  • Meyer Pollock (14:25):

    “Some things can only be settled in blood.”

  • Isaac Hart responds with the Talmudic principle against resorting to violence except in defense (14:34–14:46).
• Benjamin makes a stirring argument for solidarity with the colonies, asserting,
  Benjamin (15:11):

  "The American colonies are your congregation. This is our place. If blood is to be spilled, our place is with the colonists."

7. War, Loss, and Legacy

• Mordecai enlists, taking his father’s musket and the blessing to “be a good soldier for Israel and for America” (17:43–18:04).
• The war brings destruction and the death of Mordecai’s parents. Mordecai mourns but upholds his faith (18:48–19:33).

8. Postwar Renewal and National Ideals

• After the war, Mordecai returns to see that the synagogue stands and hears Washington’s famous letter to the Newport Jewish congregation (20:18–21:34).
  • Washington’s words (read by Moses):

    “...the government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions, their effectual support.” (20:43–21:34)

• Mordecai reflects that the security and dignity sought by his ancestors may finally be possible in America (22:09).

9. Contemporary Reflections

• Borough President Edgar J. Nathan Jr., a descendant of these pioneers, briefly comments on the religious foundations of America, the contribution of Judaism, and the need to preserve the “eternal light” of faith and liberty for future generations (23:27–26:12).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Benjamin (Mordecai’s Father, on Jewish ethics) [05:32]:

  “Faith isn’t enough. You cannot be a Jew only with your lips. You’re a Jew every hour, every moment, in every act.”

• On religious freedom (Roger Williams, recalled) [03:45]:

  “All men may walk here as their consciences persuade them, and every one in the name of his God.”

• On solidarity during revolution (Benjamin) [15:11]:

  “The American colonies are your congregation. This is our place... if blood is to be spilled, our place is with the colonists.”

• Washington’s Letter as read by Moses [20:43]:

  “...the government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions, their effectual support.”

• Final reflection (Mordecai) [22:09]:

  “The words, too, are living. The words a man called Washington addressed to the little Jewish congregation at Newport. A congregation that sleeps beside me.”

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Important Timestamps

• 01:46: Mordecai introduces the narrative and the ancestral cemetery
• 02:54: Benjamin teaches Mordecai from the prophets
• 04:36–06:04: Conflict between Benjamin and Meyer Pollock about the slave trade
• 08:19–09:44: Reconciliation scene between Benjamin and Meyer
• 12:36–15:11: Debate over joining the revolution
• 17:43–18:04: Benjamin blesses Mordecai as he goes to war
• 18:48–19:33: News of Mordecai’s parents’ death; Kaddish recited
• 20:18–21:34: Reading of Washington’s letter
• 23:27–26:12: Address by Edgar J. Nathan Jr. on religious liberty and American ideals

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Episode Tone & Style

The language is reverent, reflective, and deeply rooted in historical and religious tradition. The characters speak with a mixture of warmth and gravitas, their dialogue interwoven with citations of scripture and the Talmud. The story blends drama, nostalgia, ethical inquiry, and hope, embodying the values at the heart of America’s founding.

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Conclusion

“A Rhode Island Refuge” offers a moving dramatization of the Jewish journey to and within America, framing their pursuit of religious liberty and community integrity against the backdrop of the American Revolution. The episode closes by affirming the continuing relevance of these foundational values, not only as historical legacy but as an ongoing duty to “hand on to our children” the eternal light of faith and freedom.

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Transcript

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Isaac Hart]

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, command the children of Israel that they bring unto thee pure oil olives beaten for the light to cause the lamps to burn continually in the tabernacle of the congregation. And it shall be a statute forever in your generation.

[Narrator / NBC Announcer]

The Eternal Light. The National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated independent stations present the Eternal Light, a new series of programs offered as a public service.

[Narrator / Historical Commentator]

It has been prepared under the auspices.

[Narrator / NBC Announcer]

Of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Chapter one is entitled A Rhode Island Refuge. Following the dramatic portion of the program, we will hear a brief Message by the Honorable Edgar J. Nathan Jr.

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

They call it the old Jewish Cemetery of Newport from Narragansett Bay. The land breeze rustles in the trees, and the Rhode island sun is clean and friendly on our graves they sleep so still beside me. Once, so long ago, they fled from Spain and Portugal, fled before the Inquisition, and they wandered over the earth again. And here in Rhode island they found refuge. And now they sleep, a final refuge, the Last Exodus the headstones mellow in the rain. Lopez, Alvarez, Levi, Seychas, Turo but over my grave there is no tablet, only a nameless stone. The color of earth it does not matter. The grass is my comfort, and it is warm and green and living. And yet once I had a name, and also a history. My name was Mordecai, a good name, and Benjamin was my father, a good man. And in the year 1760, when I was a boy, my father read to.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

Me from the it hath been told thee what is good, and what the Lord doth require of thee, only to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

We walked gladly with God, and we sang his praises in the New Synagogue on Griffin Street. And why not? For in Rhode island there was reverence for God and reverence also for me, which is a fine thing. It was not so in the other colonies, where Puritan persecuted Quaker and Anglican, opposed the Catholic, and both opposed the Jew. My father told me this and also how 23 Jews came to New Amsterdam, and how Peter Stuyvesant nearly turned them away. And he told me also how others came to Rhode island, and what Roger Williams said.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

All men may walk here as their consciences persuade them, and Every one in the name of his God.

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

And for five generations after Roger Williams, we found sustenance in his words. And the colony of Newport prospered greatly, even beyond New York and Philadelphia. Aaron Lopez sent his ships far to the whale fisheries. Jacob Rivera introduced candles of spermaceti. James Lucena made soaps such as had been made before in Castile. And some were silversmiths and iron workers and merchants and simple farmers. And Benjamin, my father, was likewise a merchant with a shop on long haul. I remember still how he quarreled with my Apolloch and why it came to pass.

[Meyer Pollock]

10 casts of nails.

[Narrator / Historical Commentator]

Check.

[Meyer Pollock]

15 bushels of wheat.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

Check.

[Meyer Pollock]

100 pewter basins.

[Narrator / Historical Commentator]

Check.

[Meyer Pollock]

One fine looking glass.

[Narrator / Historical Commentator]

Check.

[Meyer Pollock]

Six barrels of molasses, Benjamin. Six barrels of molasses.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

I heard you. Well, I don't like it to hear you talk.

[Meyer Pollock]

Someone might think there was something wrong with molasses.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

I want no part of it.

[Meyer Pollock]

Are you crazy?

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

Molasses means rum, doesn't it? Of course. And rum means slaves, doesn't it?

[Meyer Pollock]

What if it does? You're not trading in slaves.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

Why not, Meyer?

[Meyer Pollock]

Who cares? Why not?

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

I care. Because it is written, thou shalt not abhor an Edomite, for he is thy brother.

[Meyer Pollock]

Many things are written, and you can lose your mind trying to live up to it all.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

Meyer, are you a Jew?

[Meyer Pollock]

What has that got to do with it?

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

You can't be half a Jew or a quarter of a Jew or a fifth of a Jew. You have to do what is written.

[Meyer Pollock]

Now look here. Don't tell me what to do. I go to the synagogue every day as good as any man. I have faith in the Torah.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

Faith isn't enough. You cannot be a Jew only with your lips. You're a Jew every hour, every moment, in every act.

[Meyer Pollock]

Excuse me, Benjamin. When I need a sermon, I'll listen to Rabbi Toro. When I want to do business, I don't think I'll come here.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

I'm not quarreling with you, Meyer, but I won't deal in molasses when it's.

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

The blood of the slave trade.

[Meyer Pollock]

Is that your last word?

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

If you wish. Then goodbye. Goodbye, Meyer.

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

They did not speak much to one another after that. And then they grew stiff necked and did not speak at all. My father suffered for it. For how can a man bear to see injustice done without crying out? Yet how can a man protest to one who will not listen? My father's business did not go well. But Maya Pollock prospered. His ships went forth to Jamaica and Barbados and they came back laden with good things. He Dealt in male in glasses and in rum. And once my mother said.

[Narrator / Historical Commentator]

Perhaps Meyer's.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

In the slave trade. Benjamin, bring the bread to the table. Rachel.

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

Well, it's only what people say.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

People should learn not to slander a good man's name. Did you ever hear of a rich man who was good? Or a poor man's wife who wasn't envious? Oh, be still, Benjamin. Here's the bread. Wash your hands, Mordecai.

[Meyer Pollock]

He's already washed.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

Say the blessing, then. Blessed art thou, O Lord, King of the universe, and bringest forth bread from out of the earth.

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

Amen.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

Benjamin, isn't it true about Meyer? No, it isn't true. We're no longer friends. And I know he talks against.

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

But it isn't true.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

The Jews of Newport do not deal in slaves. Go ahead and eat your supper, Agent. Well, Mordecai, do you need a special invitation? Eat your supper.

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

My mother ate her supper and smiled into her plate. And when she looked up and saw my father and saw that he saw her also, her eyes were wet. And I was glad for him and for her and for myself, that I was their son. And as I grew older and took my place with the men in the synagogue, I saw that my father was as he was because he was bred to the Talmud. And my respect for the law of Israel did not diminish. And it happened many years later that Meyer Pollock lost his ships at sea and all his merchandise with it. And my father went to him.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

No. It's you.

[Meyer Pollock]

What do you want?

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

I. I've heard of your loss. Meyer. Get out. Meyer, get out.

[Meyer Pollock]

Do your gloating outside.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

I'm not gloating.

[Meyer Pollock]

No?

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

No, Meyer. I've come to offer my help.

[Meyer Pollock]

Don't be a fool.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

I've been your enemy, and you're not my enemy now.

[Meyer Pollock]

What makes you think so?

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

Even if you are, Meyer, you're wiped out. Let me help. I really believe you mean it.

[Narrator / Historical Commentator]

Benjamin, you are a fool.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

I don't have much to give, but take it. Thanks, Benjamin. I. I shouldn't have called you a fool. Why not? I suppose I am a good fool. Then you didn't believe I dealt in slaves, did you, Benjamin? No, I didn't believe it. I didn't. You know, I could have, but I didn't. Once I tried, Benjamin.

[Meyer Pollock]

Then one day I found the book.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

On a chair open, Benjamin. And the page was Leviticus stared at me. I know the place. Do you?

[Meyer Pollock]

It said something about not making your brother serve as your bondservant.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

Of all the pages in the Bible, Benjamin. It had to be open at that one. For they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. They shall not be sold as bondsmen.

[Narrator / Historical Commentator]

That's it.

[Meyer Pollock]

Benjamin.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

I thought you ought to know that. Glad you told me. You'd better go now. If you stay any longer, I'll become a fool meanwhile, like you, Benjamin. God willing.

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

There were many things my father said as I came to manhood. And I do not remember that anything he told me was false or insincere or said merely for the sake of pious display. Each morning after prayers, we went to his shop on Long Wharf. And on Sabbath eve my mother would light the candles and make the benediction and we would go together to the synagogue. Sometimes on the Sabbath, after services, we would take the long way home and go among the keys and watch the boats dipping in the harbor and listen to the water slapping against the piles. How well I remember it. The Jews of Newport walking homeward, neat in their Sabbath dress, hungry for the warmed over Sabbath meal. And our Christian neighbors stopped to shake a hand or to murmur a friendly Good Sabbath. Sometimes I remember there would be a song first from one pair of lips and then caught up softly by the others as we walked. There were many songs, but this was my favorite. A simple song, perhaps one my ancestors sang in Spain 300 years before. And perhaps also when it was no longer permitted. They whispered it to one another, whispered it in their houses or sang it loudly in the fields where none could hear. In Newport it did not matter who heard. There was no need to whisper, no need to tremble. And we sang happily until we came to our houses. And within there was peace and serenity and a table laden with good things. I wonder sometimes whether we're ever fated to have peace and serenity for long. For the colonies were impatient under the restrictions and the taxes of the Crown. And soon there was a feeling of tension and a sense of impending trouble which made the Sabbath bitter as Mara and stifled the song.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

Please, not all at once.

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

That's better, isn't it? Let's do this thing democratically.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

We're here to make up our minds on some action.

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

Definite action. Moses Seychelles. You haven't said anything.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

I'll stand with the others. Benjamin.

[Meyer Pollock]

You can count on me. Benjamin. We'll buy no British tea, pay no British taxes, import no British goods.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

How about you, Isaac Hart? You go along.

[Isaac Hart]

You know my opinion. All my life I've known you, I've broken bread with you. Our children have grown up together. We've liked Each other respected one another.

[Meyer Pollock]

Get to the point, Isaac. Thy yes must be true and thy no must be true. One must not say one thing with his mouth and another in his heart.

[Isaac Hart]

You have become quite a scholar of the Talmud, my Apolloch.

[Meyer Pollock]

I'm not a Tory, if that's what you mean.

[Isaac Hart]

And I'm not a rebel. I side with England. England is where I was born. England has done me nothing but good.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

You live in Rhode Island, Isaac.

[Isaac Hart]

I see this is a democratic meeting. Everyone wants to talk and no one wants to listen.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

Let him speak. Go ahead, Isaac.

[Isaac Hart]

You are all at this very moment guilty of rebellion.

[Meyer Pollock]

Can you tell us what liberty has ever been accomplished without rebellion?

[Isaac Hart]

I see, Meyer, you are not only a scholar, you are also a philosopher.

[Narrator / Historical Commentator]

Meyer.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

Sit down, please, Isaac. Let's speak without anger. We are friends here. We can settle our opinions quietly.

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

This is our synagogue.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

It is unseemly to raise our voices here.

[Isaac Hart]

Yes, you are right. But every Jew in Newport is turned against me.

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

Why?

[Isaac Hart]

Because I am loyal to England. Would Roger Williams have been able to found Rhode Island Colony if not for English tolerance? Would Spain have permitted you to live here unmolested? Don't you see the consequences of your rebellion? Many of you are merchants. If you stop importing British goods, you go bankrupt. Your children will be hungry. There may be bloodshed.

[Meyer Pollock]

Some things can only be settled in blood.

[Isaac Hart]

The words roll so easily from your tongue, Meyer. Before you quoted the Talmud to me, I also can quote.

[Meyer Pollock]

I'm listening.

[Isaac Hart]

Look in the Talmud. In Sanhedrin, if someone should say to thee, kill, or I will kill thee. It is better that thou be killed than to commit murder. Why don't you answer, Meyer?

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

Shall I answer for him, Isaac?

[Isaac Hart]

Yes, if you can.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

Two answers, Isaac. The first, Moses said, shall your brethren go into the war and shall ye sit here? The second, you know also, Isaac. Separate not thyself from the congregation.

[Isaac Hart]

You distort the meaning.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

No, Isaac, the meaning is plain. The American colonies are your congregation. This is our place. We came here as the others came. We came for the same reasons. Pray God there will be no letting of blood. But if blood is to be spilled, our place is with the colonists.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

Lexington came. We began to drill. Meier and Moses Sachas went among the townspeople, collecting saltpetre in brimstone. The guns from Fort George were removed to Newport. Sentries were posted on the hills. And two full months before the Declaration of Independence, Rhode island declared itself free and independent. And with Rhode island stood the congregation of Newport. The young men took up arms. Abraham Sachius and Solomon Ro Fay and Moses Isaacs, and many more. And I with them. Then there were battles, and many of the redcoats were slain.

[Meyer Pollock]

Rejoice, Isaac Hart.

[Isaac Hart]

And why should I rejoice?

[Meyer Pollock]

Because a hundred redcoats have fallen.

[Isaac Hart]

When the angels began to sing as the Egyptians drowned in the Red Sea, God said, creatures of mine are drowning in the sea. How can ye sing a song?

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

Maya Pollock raised his hand to strike him, and then his hand fell to his side and he turned away. Isaac Hart loved the king, and he did not fear to say so. He could have held his tongue, yet he would not. It came about that he was set on by a mob and killed. And even we who shouldered the muskets of the patriot army mourned the passing of a man who suffered death for loyalty's sake. But during the fight, there's little time for mourning. It is only later, when the. When the living go into the fields to count the dead, that men can truly mourn. I was ordered to join the 8th Massachusetts Regiment. And before I went, my father took his musket and gave it to me.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

Take it, Mordecai.

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

I'll try to use it.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

Well, Father, when you were a little boy, I read you a few lines from the prophet Micah. You remember, Mordecai?

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

I remember, Father. It hath been told thee what is.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

Good and what the Lord doth require.

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

Of thee, only to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

I'm glad you remember. Now say goodbye to your mother and don't let her cry. And Mordecai. Yes? Be a good soldier for Israel and for America.

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

These were the last words I ever heard from my father's mouth. I went to war and the congregation of Newport dispersed before the British invasion. The goods were burned, the warehouses emptied so that nothing could fall into the hands of the enemy. And then, many years later, after the terrible winter of Valley Forge, Moses Sachas wrote me a letter.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

My dear Mordecai, God be with you. My heart melts for thee, for I have nothing to give thee but bad news. Benjamin, your father and Rachel your mother are no longer among the living. They went to settle in another place and to help the patriots. And a terrible sickness came like a plague and took them from the living. O Mordecai, Benjamin was a good man. He was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame and a pillar of the synagogue. Truly, it is said, the hope of man is but the worm. May they rest in peace.

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

Shema Yisrael. Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai. Yehad hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. What else could I say? And then I said the Kaddish. It is not an easy thing for a soldier to say the mourner's prayer for the departed when the feet are naked and the body is cold. Yet I tried to say it. I said it shivering in the mud and weary. Weary almost to death. And many years later, when the war was ended, I returned to Newport and stood with Moses in the synagogue. Yeshua. Israel.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

You see, the synagogue still stands. It will always stand, Mordecai.

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

Your faith is very great, Moses.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

Why not in America? Faith is possible. President Washington came here and stood where you are standing. He saw the Ark of the Lord and the holy scroll. He was pleased. I'm glad. He gave me a letter. Mordecai, you have fought your country's war. Now you have a right to hear why. This is Washington's letter.

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

Will you read it to me?

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

Moses? To the Hebrew congregation in Newport, Rhode Island. The citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy, a policy worthy of imitation. All possesses alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily, the government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions, their effectual support.

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

Read on.

[Benjamin (Mordecai's Father)]

May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants, while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid. May the Father of all mercies scatter light and not darkness in our paths and make us all in our several vocations useful here and in his own due time and way everlastingly happy.

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

They call it the old Jewish cemetery of Newport from Narragansett Bay. The land breeze rustles in the trees and the Rhode island sun is clean and friendly on our graves. Yes, they sleep so still beside me. Once, long ago they fled from Spain and Portugal but here they found a refuge. The names on the headstones are mellowed in the rain and if I have no stone it does not matter for the grass is warm and green and living and something else. The words too are living. The words A man called Washington addressed to the little Jewish congregation at Newport. A congregation that sleeps beside me.

[Narrator / NBC Announcer]

We continue our program with a brief Message by the Honorable Edgar J. Nathan, Jr. Borough President of Manhattan and acting Chairman of the Radio Committee of the Jewish Theological seminary of America. Mr. Nathan is a lineal descendant of those pioneers who two and three centuries ago tended the light of religious liberty in Rhode Island.

[Narrator / Historical Commentator]

Mr. Nathan, the first broadcast of the Eternal Light has just presented a beautiful and symbolic picture of the value of the teachings of religion. This picture was set in a framework of pre revolutionary days in America. The building of the Newport Synagogue was completed in 1763. That beautiful classic structure is the oldest synagogue building now standing in America. Congregation Sheriff Israel, the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue on Central Park west at 70th street in New York City, which now has title to the Newport Synagogue, is the oldest Jewish congregation in America, having been formed in 1655. Its first house of worship was built in 1730 on Mill street, now South William street in New York City. With the foundation of the Newport Jewish community in 1658 and that of the New York Jewish community three years earlier. Judaism began making its contribution to the American way of life. Even in the earliest beginnings of America. In the days long before the Revolution, Jews loyal to their religion and in accordance with their tradition joined with other patriots in the creation of our Republic. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were based on principles first expressed in the Bible and in the teachings of religion. On the Liberty Bell are inscribed the words of the Jewish Bible. And ye shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all the inhabitants thereof. The founding fathers were God fearing religious men in whose breasts burned the love of freedom and equality. Who believed man was made in God's image and who knew that justice and righteousness could not prevail unless the dignity of the human being was preserved. They imparted their fortitude and beliefs to their children by keeping alive the teachings of their religion. And so America was molded from all religions and preserved for us. Today it is now our task to preserve it for our children and our children's children. We cannot succeed unless we too have faith and understanding and knowledge of our religion. The eternal light kindled in Palestine long ago has been handed on from generation to generation. The Pilgrim Fathers and those who seeking religious liberty in America founded the Newport and the New York communities and other God fearing pioneers of our country three centuries ago brought here the eternal light of religious faith. Let us see to it that we handed on to our children.

[Narrator / NBC Announcer]

Undim in synagogues this morning, the Hallel hymns of praise were intoned. Cantor David Putterman and the choir will now sing Eau de Ko from the service.

[Mordecai (Narrator / Main Character)]

Holy. Spirit. They.

[Narrator / NBC Announcer]

You have just heard the first in a series of programs entitled the Eternal Light. Presented by the National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated independent stations. This program is prepared under the auspices of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. The script was written by Martin Wischengrad and directed by Ira Avery. The music was conducted by Henri Nosko. The traditional liturgical music was sung by cantor David Putterman and the choir. This program came to you from New York City. This is the National Broadcasting Company.