Opening Week Marks the Public Debut of Newly Secured Loans, Including the Only Remaining Object from Jewish Life on St. Eustatius – Never Before Shown in the Mainland U.S.

PHILADELPHIA (April 16, 2026) – When The First Salute, a landmark America 250 exhibition opens at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History (The Weitzman) next week (April 23), it will feature several new object loans, including the only intact remaining ritual item (Judaica) from the 18th-century Jewish community of the Caribbean island of St. Eustatius.

18th Century Treasure Makes Its Continental U.S. Debut

A rare 1761 Hanukkah lamp (hanukkiah) bearing the name of St. Eustatius’s synagogue, engraved in Hebrew, was carried out of St. Eustatius by departing Jewish families after Admiral George Rodney’s invasion. The Jewish community of St. Thomas has safeguarded it for more than two centuries.

Amsterdam’s Jewish community sent 18th-century Sephardic-style lamps like this to colonial congregations, underscoring Amsterdam’s central role in Jewish life across the Dutch Atlantic world. Each was inscribed with a place and date in Hebrew – this one reads “Honen Dalim, year 5522” (1761). This object is on loan from the Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands in cooperation with the Hebrew Congregation of St. Thomas (Congregation Beracha Veshalom Oogemiluth Hasadim), an active synagogue known for its sand floor, a traditional feature of Caribbean synagogues. (See photos.)

“The closer we get to opening The First Salute, the more powerful it feels to see these objects coming together in one place,” said curator Dr. Josh Perelman. “This Hanukkah lamp is not just rare – it is a surviving witness to a Jewish community that helped shape the Atlantic world around the Revolution. Bringing it to Philadelphia lets visitors encounter that history as something tangible, human, and real.”

The Exhibition
On November 16, 1776, the first international recognition of the United States took place when the Dutch governor of St. Eustatius – an island with a significant population of Jewish families – returned a cannon fire salute to an American Navy ship, the Andrew Doria, entering the island’s harbor flying the Grand Union Flag and carrying the Declaration of Independence. This “First Salute” is an often-forgotten moment in American history, but remembered with pride on St. Eustatius.

To mark the 250th anniversary of the United States, The First Salute is an untold, high-stakes, true story sparked by two key moments on the high seas that helped tip the scales of the American Revolution. Set against the backdrop of the tiny Caribbean island of St. Eustatius, this riveting tale explores how religious liberty, Jewish trade merchants, and the cruelty toward the Jewish community by a debt-ridden British admiral converged at a pivotal time in world history, and impacted the trajectory of the American Revolution. Read more.

The Hanukkah lamp loan joins other key artifacts on view in The First Salute, including:

• NEW: Model of the Andrew Doria by Greg McKay
  • Shipbuilder Allen Rawl commissioned this model of the Andrew Doria with funding from St. Eustatius. It has been displayed on the island and in the Dutch embassy in Washington, DC.

• NEW: Blue glass beads from the enslaved African community of St. Eustatius
  • Served as currency and status markers; many cast them into the sea upon emancipation in 1863

• An antique cannon discovered on St. Eustatius and shipped by boat to the East Coast for the exhibition
• Headstone of Hannah Mears from the Jewish cemetery on St. Eustatius
• Previously announced artifacts here

This 4,500-square-foot exhibition will mark the first in the Weitzman’s new special exhibition space on its second floor. This opening will mark a milestone in the Museum’s strategic vision to reimagine its core exhibition and special exhibition schedule.

The First Salute is made possible with support from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative, which propelled this exhibition’s development; The First Salute has been supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage; The First Salute has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. This exhibition is supported by Dutch Culture USA, a program of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the United States. Additional funding has been provided by the David Berg Foundation, William Penn Foundation, Maimonides Fund, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker & the City of Philadelphia, America250PA, Betsy and Philip M. Darivoff, and other generous individuals.

The First Salute will be open from April 23, 2026 to April 2027. A press preview will be held April 22, 2026 at 9:30 a.m.

TheWeitzman.org/FirstSalute 

Detailed press release

PRESS PHOTOS

Exhibition Photos; Credit lines enclosed

Museum images; Credit lines enclosed

 

ABOUT THE WEITZMAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY
Established in 1976, and situated on Philadelphia’s Independence Mall, the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History is the only museum in the nation dedicated exclusively to exploring and interpreting the American Jewish experience. The Weitzman presents educational programs and experiences that preserve, explore, and celebrate the history of Jews in America. Standing as a joyful bulwark against antisemitism, bigotry, and hate, The Weitzman serves to connect Jews more closely to their heritage and to inspire in people of all backgrounds a greater appreciation for the diversity of the American Jewish experience and the freedoms to which Americans aspire. www.theweitzman.org 

 

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