In 18th century America, Jews were relatively few in number. The great flood of Jewish immigration from Europe would not start taking place until the next century or so. Nevertheless, not unlike members of some Christian groups, a number of European Jews did migrate to America in search of religious freedom. In the early United States, some cities had a sufficiently large enough population of Jews to establish a synagogue, including Philadelphia, New York, Charleston, Richmond, Newport (Rhode Island), and Savannah. A least a few of these Jewish immigrants achieved a degree of social prominence. For example, in Williamsburg, the then capital of Virginia, John de Sequeyra, who was of Portuguese Jewish descent, became highly respected as a physician. He even had a personal connection with George Washington, as he treated Washington's step-daughter Patsy Custis for epilepsy.
Washington himself seems to have had a respectful, positive attitude toward the Jewish people, whom he referred to in one letter as the "children of the stock of Abraham." In a letter written to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport (Rhode Island), he expressed fervent wishes for the wellbeing of the Jewish inhabitants of that city:
May [they] 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.
In another letter, this one written to the Hebrew Congregation of Savannah, he, in effect, offered a prayer in which referred to God in terms that evoke the Jews' liberation from slavery from Egypt, celebrated ever since by them during Passover:
May the same wonder-working Deity, who long since delivered the Hebrews from their Egyptian oppressors, planted them in a promised land, whose providential agency has lately been conspicuous in establishing these United States as an independent nation, still continue to water them with the dews of heaven and make the inhabitants of every denomination participate in the temporal and spiritual blessings of that people whose God is Jehovah.
Washington also tried to reassure the Jewish inhabitants of the new country that they need not fear the specter of persecution that had stalked them in Europe. In same letter referred to above to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Washington wrote:
[T]he Government of the United States...gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance [and] requires only that those who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.
However, Washington's relationship with the Jewish people went beyond his solicitude for their wellbeing. He was deeply influenced by the Jewish Scriptures (what Christians call the Old Testament), as is evidenced by the fact that one of his favorite expressions--"sit ....under his own vine and fig tree"--was derived from the great Jewish prophet Micah. Indeed, one reason that questions have arisen about Washington's own religious beliefs may be the fact that he had a tendency to employ names for God that have a Hebraic flavor--rather than a distinctly Christian flavor--as is noted by Michael and Jana Novak in their book Washington's God: Religion, Liberty, and the Father of Our Country.
In short, Washington set an example for respectful relationships between Jews and Gentiles (and, more generally, among people of different faiths) that the world today could well benefit from.