Joseph Jonas (1792-1869).

Earliest Arrivals

Joseph Jonas (1792-1869) might not be the first Jew who lived in Cincinnati, but he was among the city's earliest Jewish settlers. Migrating from Plymouth, England to Cincinnati, via New York and Philadelphia, Jonas established himself as a watch repairer and jeweler. In 1824 he was one of 10 men who met at the home of Morris Moses to found K.K. Bene Israel Congregation (also called Rockdale),which is the oldest congregation west of the Alleghenies. Jonas wrote about his arrival for The Occident (Vol.1, No.11) in a letter addressed to Rev. Isaac Leeser: ". . . he arrived on the 8th day of March, 1817. The city then contained about six thousand inhabitants, but the only Israelite was himself. With the assistance of the God of his ancestors, he soon became established in a lucrative and respectable business, and his constant prayer was, that he might be a nucleus around whom the first congregation might be formed, to worship the God of Israel in this great western territory."