21 Iyar - Alliance Settlement -1882On this day in 1882, the Jewish Agricultural Settlement of Allian
21 Iyar - Alliance Settlement -1882On this day in 1882, the Jewish Agricultural Settlement of Alliance was established in Pittsgrove Township in Salem County, New Jersey. Jewish immigration to North America increased in the 19th century due to programs throughout Russia. Many of those Jews gravitated to the Lower East Side of New York. Alliance was an effort to break that trend and was supported by the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and the Baron De Hirsch Fund. The community was started by 43 settlers and grew to almost 70 families by the end of the first Summer. By 1901 there were 151 adults and 345 children. The community had several schools, 4 synagogues, and a Jewish Cemetery. Ultimately the project did not take off as America became more urbanized and Industrial. This was not the first attempt at a Jewish settlement in America. In 1825, Mordechai Manuel Noah purchased most of Grand Island near Buffalo, New York, and proclaimed it the Jewish State of Ararat. His goal was to build skyscrapers big enough to house all of world Jewry and protect them from world Anti-Semitism. The state never really took off, and Noah soon became an active and dedicated zionist long before Herzl was even born.Rabbi Pinchas L. Landis -- source link
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