Editing Alexander Hamilton (section)

===Relationship with Jews and Judaism===
Hamilton's birthplace had a large Jewish community, comprising roughly a quarter of [[Charlestown, Nevis|Charlestown]]'s white population by the 1720s.<ref name=chernow17/> He came into contact with Jews on a regular basis; as a small boy, he was tutored by a Jewish schoolmistress, and had learned to recite the [[Ten Commandments]] in the original [[Biblical Hebrew|Hebrew]].<ref name=jch-life>{{cite book |title=The Life of Alexander Hamilton, Vol. 1 |last=Hamilton |first=John Church |year=1834 |publisher=Halsted & Voorhies |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/lifealexanderha05hamigoog/page/n16 3] |url=https://archive.org/details/lifealexanderha05hamigoog}}</ref>

Hamilton exhibited a respect for Jews, which was described as "a life-long reverence."<ref name=chernow18>Chernow, [https://archive.org/details/alexanderhamilto00cher/page/n33 p. 18].</ref> He believed that Jewish achievement was a result of [[divine providence]]:

{{blockquote |The state and progress of the Jews, from their earliest history to the present time, has been so entirely out of the ordinary course of human affairs, is it not then a fair conclusion, that the cause also is an <em>extraordinary</em> one—in other words, that it is the effect of some great providential plan? The man who will draw this conclusion, will look for the solution in the Bible. He who will not draw it ought to give us another fair solution.<ref name=jch-711>{{cite book |title=Life of Alexander Hamilton: A History of the Republic of the United States of America, as Traced in His Writings and in Those of His Contemporaries, Volume VII |first=John Church |last=Hamilton |location=Boston |publisher=Houghton, Osgood and Company |year=1879 |page=711 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7lYSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA711}}</ref>}}

Based primarily on the phonetic similarity of Lavien to a common Jewish surname, it has been suggested that [[Johann Michael Lavien|Johann Lavien]], the first husband of Hamilton's mother, was Jewish or of Jewish descent.<ref name=chernow10-26>Chernow, pp. [https://archive.org/details/alexanderhamilto00cher/page/10 10], [https://archive.org/details/alexanderhamilto00cher/page/n41 26].</ref> On this contested foundation, it was rumored that Hamilton himself was born Jewish, a claim that gained some popularity early in the 20th century<ref name=Newton34>Newton (2015),[{{GBurl|9GvpCQAAQBAJ|p=34}} p. 34].</ref> and which was given serious consideration by one present-day historian.<ref name=Porwancher>{{Cite book |last=Porwancher |first=Andrew |date=2021 |title=The Jewish World of Alexander Hamilton |publisher=Princeton University Press |page=1 |isbn=978-0-691-21115-2}}</ref> The belief that Lavien was Jewish was popularized by [[Gertrude Atherton]] in her 1902 novel ''The Conqueror'', a fictionalized biography of Hamilton which made the earliest known written assertion that Hamilton was Jewish.<ref>Newton (2015), [{{GBurl|9GvpCQAAQBAJ|p=14}} p. 14]</ref><ref>Newton (2019), [https://books.google.com/books?id=5oOiDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA18 p. 18] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221226171807/https://books.google.com/books?id=5oOiDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA18 |date=December 26, 2022 }}.</ref> The consensus of mainstream scholars and historians, however, is that Hamilton was not Jewish.<ref name=chernow_10-12_26>Chernow, pp. [{{GBurl|id=4iafgTEhU3QC|p=10}} 10–12], [{{GBurl|id=4iafgTEhU3QC|p=26}} 26].</ref>