This Jewish Community in the Caribbean Smuggled Gunpowder to the Patriots During the Revolution. A British Admiral Condemned the Island as a 'Nest of Vipers'

A Hanukkah lamp dated 1761 and marked with the Hebrew year 5522 represents a Jewish community that once flourished on the Dutch Caribbean island of St. Eustatius. The lamp reflects how Jews observed Hanukkah in the 18th century using oil lamps. The community is described as playing a little-known but crucial role in the American Revolution by sending munitions and supplies from Northern Europe to George Washington’s army. The exhibition at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia features the lamp as a rare physical link to that vanished community. The artifact is on loan from the government of the United States Virgin Islands in cooperation with the Hebrew Congregation of St. Thomas.

"Known today as a menorah, this fixture is displayed every December in many Jewish households around the world, its candles lit to celebrate the eight days and nights of the Festival of Lights. In the 18th century, Jews observing Hanukkah would have used an oil lamp much like this one. Bearing the Hebrew year 5522, the artifact is a poignant reminder of a Jewish community that once flourished on the Dutch island of St. Eustatius (also known as Sint Eustatius or, more commonly, Statia), in what is now the Caribbean Netherlands."

"This community played a little known but crucial role in the Revolution, conveying a steady stream of munitions and supplies from the forges and mills of Northern Europe to George Washington's army in North America. As the British admiral George Rodney once proclaimed, "Had it not been for that nest of vipers ... this infamous island, the American rebellion could not possibly have subsisted.""

"The lamp is a highlight of a new exhibition at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, in Philadelphia. On loan from the government of the United States Virgin Islands, in cooperation with the Hebrew Congregation of St. Thomas, it's one of the few tangible links to that vanished St. Eustatius community-a fact that wasn't lost on Perelman as he boarded his flight home."

Read at Smithsonian Magazine