On Shabbat shekalim (Exodus 3:11-16), each member of the community is called to contribute equally to the financing of the tabernacle.
In 1654, Jews fleeing the Portuguese Inquisition in Recife, Brazil, found refuge in New Amsterdam, later New York, despite attempts by Peter Stuyvesant, governor of the colony, to expel them. The administrators of the Dutch West India Company opposed its anti-Semitic policies and supported the Jewish presence recognizing their importance to Dutch interests.
The Wall Street Synagogue, built in 1929 at the instigation of Rabbi Joseph Hager and financed by members of the neighborhood’s Jewish community, is a 5-story building frequented by employees of the business world.