To the Editor:
Further to "How Hebrew Came to Yale in 1777" (10 Adar), the
caliber of America's Founding Fathers was very great. They
were gentiles steeped and schooled in Hebraic
civilization.
The curricula at Harvard, King's (later Columbia), William
and Mary, Princeton, Rutgers, Dartmouth and Brown
universities were designed by men of "Old Testament
persuasion." Many of them knew Hebrew and even studied
Talmud. In those days, Hebrew and Penateuchal laws was as
much a part of the curriculum as was Latin: "Hebrew is
essential to a gentleman's education!" (Samuel Johnson).
When looking for a model for their new nation, they looked to
the Torah: "The civil polity of Israel is an excellent
general model" (Samuel Langdon). The US Declaration of
Independence refers to "the Laws of Nature and Nature's G-
d", "The Higher Law," and appeals to the "Supreme Judge" and
"Providence." How unlike the State of Israel's own
Declaration, which outside of the Communist nations, is the
only one in the world that does not explicitly mention
the Creator!
The statutes of New Haven, New England and Massachusetts
derived straight from the Chumash. The Torah's Seven
Universal Laws of morality played a major role in the US
success in integrating, subordinating, and moderating its
many diverse immigrants, nationalities.
The holding of all men equal before the law, the district
election of representatives, the senate, the federal system,
the presidency (and the limitations on whom can bear the
title), the Unitary Executive (unlike the State of Israel's
fractious multi-party Plural Executive farrago!), the Supreme
Court and the system of checks and balances placed on it
(unlike Israel's Supreme Court which constantly rides
roughshod with impunity over the abiding beliefs of the
Jewish people) etc. etc., all these derived from and were
inspired by our Torah, and were why the USA became the most
successful nation in history.
A success whose time may be up!
Yours truly
Amnon Goldberg
Tzefas
