Philadelphia Cemeteries that Mark Our Nation's 250th Birthday - Part 2

Two hundred and fifty years ago, the Declaration of Independence was signed. Two hundred and eighty-six years ago (in 1740), Congregation Mikveh Israel was established – and with it, the first Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia. The small burial ground is one of about twenty colonial-era cemeteries in Philadelphia that exist as they did when America’s founders walked this land.

As you peer through the black iron gate onto the small, quarter-acre property, you get a more visceral sense of history than if you were walking past, say, the Liberty Bell. This is the actual ground that America’s founders walked on, actual headstones that thousands of Philadelphians have touched over the centuries. Unlike some other “historic” landmarks in this city (like the fake Betsy Ross grave in front of the fake Betsy Ross House), these cemeteries have intense historic significance as tangible artifacts of our proud past.

There are in fact three Mikveh Israel cemeteries, the oldest being on Spruce Street, between Seventh and Eighth streets, directly across from the oldest hospital in America, Pennsylvania Hospital (which has a newly opened museum, by the way!). How this cemetery came to be established is an interesting story. Nathan Levy (who is buried here) was a Philadelphia merchant who petitioned the William Penn Family (Royal Proprietors of Pennsylvania) for a piece of ground to bury one of Levy’s children (in 1738). In 1740, Levy established the space as a cemetery for Jews. This was not unusual at the time. There were no public cemeteries then – they were either private family burial grounds, potters' fields, or the graveyards of churches of various denominations (Protestant and Quaker, mostly, and a few Catholic).

In 1956 the Mikveh Israel Cemetery was declared a National Shrine by the U.S. Congress and is part of Independence National Historical Park. The cemetery is within easy walking distance of the park where the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall are located. The cemetery will be part of the Interfaith Philadelphia Religious Freedom Walk that has been organized for this summer, so do stop by to see it as you walk through the area (ref.).

Mikveh Israel Synagogue, 44 N. Fourth Street, Philadelphia

The people buried in Mikveh Israel were members of Mikveh Israel Congregation, the “Congregation of the American Revolution.” The congregation was formed in 1740 by Jewish Spanish and Portuguese immigrants when Nathan Levy began to hold services in his home. He was a merchant whose ship the Myrtilla, was thought to have brought the Liberty Bell to America from England in 1752 (but they probably didn’t call it “The Liberty Bell” at the time, so as not to tip off the Brits!).

One wishes that photographs existed to show what these monuments and gravestones looked like when new – or at least the ones that were carved and set after photography was invented (around 1830). Sadly, it didn’t occur to many photographers back then to photograph gravestones. Of course it was only black and white photography back then, right? So any such early photos would never have captured the beauty of these azaleas in the springtime. But wait, were there azaleas in America back then? Turns out there were! They were first brought to America from China around 1840, so it is possible that azaleas were planted here when the cemetery was established that same year!

The landscaping is well tended at Mikveh Israel Cemetery and I must pause here just to say that we all benefit from the efforts of people who work to maintain and preserve our historic cemeteries in Philadelphia. Of the 200 graveyards and cemeteries that were moved, destroyed, and buried throughout Philadelphia’s history, some still exist. Whenever one disappears, that chapter in the city’s history disappears. So it is truly a marvel and a testament to the tenacity of visionary people that twenty cemeteries actually exist that were here prior to 1776, with Mikveh Israel (the “Hope of Israel”) being one of them.

 “Send for Haym Salomon” – George Washington

A permanent resident of Mikveh Israel Cemetery is American patriot Haym Salomon, a financier who helped George Washington meet payroll for the soldiers under Washington’s command, so they would not desert. Because of this one action, Washington won the battle of Yorktown - the final battle of the Revolutionary War. This singular instance is but one example of the 250 years of Jewish contributions to our American story.

Salomon worked with Washington and Robert Morris, Superintendent of Finance of the United States, from 1781 to 1784 to finance the war effort. In 1781, Washington determined that he needed at least $20,000 for continued financing of the campaign. Washington wanted to lead his army from the Hudson Highlands (in New York) to Yorktown, Virginia to engage the trapped British army (led by Cornwallis). When Morris told him there were no funds and no credit available, Washington said, "Send for Haym Salomon." Salomon raised $20,000 through the sale of bills of exchange. With that contribution, Washington conducted the Yorktown campaign, which proved to be the final battle of the Revolution. Hence, Haym Salomon, patriot.

With regard to historically famous residents of the Mikveh Israel Burial Ground, the Gratz family may be a name more familiar to Philadelphians. Gratz College, the Gratz Building (Fifth and Spruce), Gratz Street, and so on.  – Hyman Gratz is buried here, the founder of Philadelphia’s Gratz College (which places its focus on Biblical and Talmudical study). 

Hyman’s sister Rebecca is of course, the cemetery’s most esteemed resident. Perhaps you’ve not heard of her? Let’s change that, then.

Rebecca Gratz 

Rebecca Gratz portrait at the Rosenbach

I took a special interest in Rebecca Gratz’ grave, as I was quite the fan of Sir Walter Scott’s novel, Ivanhoe (1819). The heroine in this novel, Rebecca, is patterned after Rebecca Gratz (1781 – 1869). “The leading American Jewish woman of the nineteenth century, Rebecca Gratz founded several organizations that poignantly defined American Jewish public life for years to come and helped move women to the center of that life” (Ref.). 

Rebecca Gratz exhibit at the Rosenbach Museum and Library

A friend of the Gratz family, author Washington Irving, extolled Rebecca’s virtues to fellow author Walter Scott, who created the character “Rebecca” for his novel around 1817. By that time, Rebecca (who was the first Jewish female college student in the United States, having attended Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania) was seen as “gentle, benevolent, and accomplished … she soon became the centre of a brilliant circle of men and women of all denominations.” As a philanthropist, Rebecca Gratz established the Philadelphia Orphans Asylum (1815) and co-founded the Female Association for Relief of Women and Children in Reduced Circumstances (1800). The latter provided assistance to women whose families had suffered economically during the American Revolution - one of the first of its kind in America.

Daughter Olivia, back in 2018

My daughter Olivia owes her Sunday mornings spent in Hebrew School to Rebecca Gratz, as Gratz was the person who instituted the practice of religious education for Jewish children. In 1838 she founded the Hebrew Sunday School Society of Philadelphia (at Mikveh Israel), “based on the pedagogy of Isaac Leeser” (the pioneering champion of written Jewish Orthodoxy, who is buried in Mikveh Israel’s West Philadelphia cemetery, at 55^th and Market Streets). Leeser and Gratz supported each others’ work in Jewish education, starting the Jewish Sunday school movement within the Mikveh Israel Congregation (ref.). This became the first such organization in America and served as the model for others like it, such as the school my daughter has attended for years at Congregation Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia.

Rebecca Gratz' stone, before cleaning

In 1906, Mary M. Cohen wrote in the City History Society of Philadelphia:

 “I stood the other day by her forgotten grave in the little grass-grown Jewish cemetery on Spruce Steet and read the simple inscription on the tomb – ‘Rebecca Gratz, born March 4, 1781, Died August 29, 1869.’ … ‘Forgotten’ grave? Oh no! Far from it! Never would the grave of one of the noblest and most distinguished of Hebrew women of the land be forgotten by her kindred or her grateful fellow believers!”

You can still read the inscription, barely. The marble has eroded to the point where it can no longer really be cleaned. In 1959, on the 90th anniversary of Gratz’ death, a bronze memorial plaque was attached to the brick wall at the head of her burial plot. 

My friend Robert Reinhardt's hand, assisting in the cleaning

Rebecca’s large marble crypt cover is weathered but the more recently placed marker of polished granite lent itself to gentle cleaning with a soft brush, soap, and water. Since plans are for Mikveh Israel Cemetery to be open to the public around the July Fourth holiday this year, I thought it would be a good idea to clean this newer gravemarker. It was barely readable in April of 2026 when I visited. A few weeks later, I returned to clean the stone.

Rebecca Gratz at Rosenbach

The artist Thomas Sully painted this remarkable portrait of Gratz, which was recently on loan to the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., and is now back with its owner, the Rosenbach Library and Museum in Philadelphia. It hangs in the Gratz family parlor at the Rosenbach, along with other portraits and pieces of the family’s furniture. And if period furniture interests you, Congregation Mikveh Israel is preparing a “Gratz Room” that will be open to visitors this summer at the Synagogue (44 N 4th Street). This is on Independence Mall, so if you are strolling by Ben Franklin’s post office on Market Street, do stop by the synagogue to see the portraits and other artifacts from the Gratz estate. History is so much more interesting when it is tangible, you know? Like when you can see yourself reflected in said history, as I’m reflected in this actual mirror in which Rebecca saw herself.

Our Shared American History

Gratz' mirror at the Rosenbach

Having a tangible link to our shared past is a strong catalyst to understanding our history, ourselves, and the role we play in creating that history. For 250 years, we’ve struggled with that line in the Declaration of Independence, the one about all men being created equal. Our forefathers espoused the ideals of freedom, liberty, and equality while owning slaves and engaging in religious persecution. Today, we tear down the historic reminders of slavery from the site of George Washington’s former home in Philadelphia, within Independence National Historic Park.

Gratz room at the Rosenbach

The nation’s 250th birthday comes at a rather inconvenient time, when respect for human life does not seem to be a popular notion in America. As a result, I am reminded of a quote related to the current restoration of Har Hasetim Burial Ground, the formerly abandoned Jewish cemetery in the woods of Gladwyne, PA.  Rabbi Beth Kalisch (of Beth David Reform Congregation, the new owners of the cemetery) said, “Restoring the cemetery is a way of affirming that each person buried there matters, even if we don’t know their name… we live in a world that so desperately needs the reminder of how valuable every single human life is.” - Beth David Rabbi Beth Kalisch, Philadelphia Inquirer, Dec. 28, 2022

So as you stroll past Mikveh Israel Cemetery this summer, pause. Look inside. Consider how this 250th birthday may be an opportunity to put into action what our forefathers wrote on paper. They were somewhat hypocritical, so perhaps we should consider the Declaration of Independence as a goal, one that we’ve not fully attained, or lived up to yet. Alexander Hamilton called us (in 1787), “The American Experiment.” Why? Because the founders really did not know if a democracy on this scale would work. It does seem that it has worked reasonably well for nearly 250 years --- the goal being, as Hamilton stated, to be able to govern ourselves without a king.  

Further general information:

https://www.mikvehisrael.org/

https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/roman-catholic-church-and-catholics/

https://legalclarity.org/what-was-the-american-experiment-and-is-it-over/

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=81984

https://jewishaction.com/cover-story/isaac-leeser-1806-1868-champion-of-orthodoxy/

https://www.gratz.edu/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haym_Salomon

https://reformjudaism.org/learning/torah-study/torah-commentary/liberty-and-freedom-religion-america

For a more detailed account of Rebecca Gratz’ life, please see:

https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/gratz-rebecca

https://books.google.com/books?id=9sHVsA2dfHkC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rebecca-Gratz

Also, my friend Joe Lex created a wonderful podcast entitled, “Mary S. Costanza: Finding a Glimmer of Light in the Darkness,” in which he covers the Gratz family history.

https://www.aojd-online.net/tng/getperson.php?personID=I1839&tree=tree1