Excerpt from Dedication of the New Synagogue of the Congregation Mikve Israel at Broad and York Streets, on September 14, 1909, Elul 29, 5669 When, through the fortunes of war, New York was occupied by the British army, many of its Jewish citizens came to Philadelphia they joined the Congregation, and it was owing to this increase in membership, together with the help received from patriots who had fled from Charleston, Richmond, Savannah, Lancaster and Easton, that it was decided to remove from Sterling alley to more commodious quarters. A house on Cherry alley, between Third and Fourth streets, the property of Joseph Caufl'man, was selected and it was here that religious services were held until 1782, when the con gregation for the first time in its history occupied its own building. In 1780, the Rev. Gershom Mendez Seixas, who had been minister of the Congregation Shearith Israel, of New York, until the capture of that city by the British, came to Philadelphia, and he was at once elected Haza'n, or minister of the K. K. Mikve Israel. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.