The Touro Synagogue or Congregation Jeshuat Israel ( he, קהל קדוש ישועת ישראל) is a
synagogue built in 1763 in
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...
. It is the
oldest synagogue building still standing in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, the only surviving synagogue building in the U.S. dating to the
colonial era, and the oldest surviving
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
synagogue building in
North America. In 1946, it was declared a
National Historic Site.
The first congregation was made up of
Sephardic Jews
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...
, who are believed to have come via the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...
, where they participated in the
triangular trade
Triangular trade or triangle trade is trade between three ports or regions. Triangular trade usually evolves when a region has export commodities that are not required in the region from which its major imports come. It has been used to offset ...
along with Dutch and English settlements. They practiced a
Spanish and Portuguese Jewish liturgy and ritual. In the late eighteenth century, when
warfare
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regul ...
threatened, the congregation transferred the deed and Torah scrolls to
Congregation Shearith Israel
The Congregation Shearith Israel (Hebrew: קהילת שארית ישראל ''Kehilat She'arit Yisra'el'' "Congregation Remnant of Israel") – often called The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue – is the oldest Jewish congregation in the Unit ...
in New York for safekeeping. Since the late 19th century, the congregants have been primarily
Ashkenazi.
In 2012 the two congregations went to court to try to resolve which owned the synagogue and its contents, as the Newport congregation wanted to sell some items to raise money for restoration of the building. In 2017 the
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled that the New York congregation owned it; as the US Supreme Court declined to hear the case, this ruling stands.
History
Touro Synagogue was designed by
Peter Harrison, a noted British architect and Rhode Island resident. It is considered his most notable work. The interior is flanked by a series of twelve
Ionic columns supporting balconies, which signify the twelve tribes of ancient Israel, and each column is carved from a single tree. The building is oriented to face east toward Jerusalem. The ark containing the
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...
is on the east wall; above it is a mural representing the Ten Commandments in Hebrew, which was painted by Newport artist
Benjamin Howland.
The Touro Synagogue was built from 1759 to 1763 for the Jeshuat Israel congregation in Newport under the leadership of Cantor (Chazzan)
Isaac Touro. The cornerstone was laid by
Aaron Lopez, a Newport-based philanthropist for Jewish causes who primarily made his fortune through the trading of candles and slaves (Lopez personally financed 30 slave voyages and enslaved almost a thousand Africans), in addition to being involved in the spermaceti candlemaking business and other commercial ventures. The Jeshuat Israel congregation dates to 1658, when 15
Spanish and Portuguese Jewish families arrived, probably from the Dutch or British
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...
. Many settled near
Easton's Point. The synagogue was formally dedicated 2 December 1763. Other notable leaders include
Abraham Pereira Mendes
Abraham Pereira Mendes (February 9, 1825 in Kingston, Jamaica – April 18, 1893 in New York City) was a Jamaican rabbi and educator. He served in Jamaica, England, and the USA.
He was the first master of the Beth Limud School of Kingston, but ...
and
Henry Samuel Morais (1900–01).
Judah Touro
Judah Touro (June 16, 1775 – January 18, 1854) was an American businessman and philanthropist.
Early life and career
Touro's father Isaac Touro of Holland was chosen as the hazzan at the Touro Synagogue in 1762, a Portuguese Sephardic cong ...
, the son of Isaac Touro and his wife Reyna, made a fortune as a merchant in
. He left $10,000 ($ in current dollar terms) in his will for the upkeep of the Jewish cemetery and synagogue in Newport.
In 1946, Touro Synagogue was designated as a
National Historic Site,
and it is an affiliated area of the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...
. The synagogue was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
on October 15, 1966. In 2001, the congregation joined into a partnership with the
National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The Touro Synagogue is located at 85 Touro Street and remains an active
Orthodox synagogue. The building underwent a restoration in 2005–2006,
and a recreation of the original dedication ceremony was conducted in 2013 in honor of the 250th anniversary.
Annual recitation of the Washington–Seixas letter on religious pluralism
On August 17, 1790, the day that President
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
visited Newport, the synagogue's warden, Moses Seixas, wrote to Washington, expressing the support of the Congregation for Washington's administration and good wishes for him.
Washington sent a letter on August 21 in response, which read in part:
The Touro congregation annually reads President Washington's letter on religious pluralism and celebrates the occasion with invited speakers. They have included Supreme Court justices
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; ; March 15, 1933September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated by Presiden ...
and
Elena Kagan; and
Brown University presidents
Ruth Simmons
Ruth Simmons (born Ruth Jean Stubblefield, July 3, 1945) is an American professor and academic administrator. She is president of Prairie View A&M University, a historically black university.
Simmons previously served as the 18th president of B ...
and
Christina Paxson.
Congregation
The congregation at Newport, never large, was initially composed of Jews with roots in the
Sephardic Spanish and Portuguese
diaspora, and by the eighteenth century, with some
Ashkenazim
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
.
The first Jewish residents of Newport, fifteen Spanish Jewish families, arrived in 1658. It is presumed that they arrived via the communities in
Curaçao, home to the oldest active Jewish congregation in the Americas, dating to 1651, and
Suriname. The small community worshiped in rooms in private homes for more than a century before they could afford to build a synagogue.
The community purchased and dedicated the
Jewish Cemetery at Newport in 1677.
In the late 1700s, the Jewish community removed the Torah scrolls and sent them for safekeeping, along with the deed to the building, to
Congregation Shearith Israel
The Congregation Shearith Israel (Hebrew: קהילת שארית ישראל ''Kehilat She'arit Yisra'el'' "Congregation Remnant of Israel") – often called The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue – is the oldest Jewish congregation in the Unit ...
in New York. The keys left the Jewish community and were passed to the Goulds, a Quaker family in Newport.
From the 1850s on, the building was occasionally opened for worship for the convenience of summer visitors. It was reopened on a regular basis in 1883 as Jewish life in Newport revived with the late nineteenth century immigration of
eastern European Jews
The expression 'Eastern European Jewry' has two meanings. Its first meaning refers to the current political spheres of the Eastern European countries and its second meaning refers to the Jewish communities in Russia and Poland. The phrase 'Easte ...
(Ashkenazim). The synagogue acquired a nearby building and ran a Hebrew school and other activities. It continues to serve as a thriving congregation with many year-round programs.
Although the congregation has been predominantly Ashkenazi for a century, it is constitutionally obliged to use the "Sephardic ritual.” It therefore uses the
ArtScroll Nusach Sefard
Nusach Sefard, Nusach Sepharad, or Nusach Sfard is the name for various forms of the Jewish ''siddurim'', designed to reconcile Ashkenazi customs ( he, מנהג "Custom", pl. ''minhagim'') with the kabbalistic customs of Isaac Luria. To this end ...
prayer book; once a year representatives of the New York Congregation Shearith Israel visit and hold a service in the
Spanish and Portuguese style.
Rabbi Dr. Marc Mandel became the rabbi in July 2012. , the congregation consists of about 175 families.
Restoration
During 2005 and 2006, Touro Synagogue invested in a restoration project for its valued antique metal artifacts. In total, 150 metal objects, from eighteenth century hardware to European chandeliers and silver ''rimonim'' (ceremonial bells used on the
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...
), needed to be rebuilt, have their surfaces stabilized, and have missing parts replaced. The project was carried out by the Newport-based restoration company Newmans Ltd.
Ownership controversy
Conflict over the ownership of the Touro building and its contents surfaced in 2012. Newport's Congregation Jeshuat Israel put up for sale ceremonial bells, called rimonim, to the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, for $7.4 million. New York's
Congregation Shearith Israel
The Congregation Shearith Israel (Hebrew: קהילת שארית ישראל ''Kehilat She'arit Yisra'el'' "Congregation Remnant of Israel") – often called The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue – is the oldest Jewish congregation in the Unit ...
sued the Newport congregation, saying that Shearith Israel owns the Touro synagogue building and its contents, based on the 18th century transfer of deed. They wanted to evict the Newport congregation from the Touro building and site. In April 2015 both sides of the dispute said several attempts at mediation had failed and they were preparing for trial.
In May 2016 a federal judge ruled on the matter, rejecting Congregation Shearith Israel's claim to oversight. U.S. District Judge
John J. McConnell, Jr. noted that "for at least the past 20 years, Shearith Israel has not taken any meaningful action in its capacity as trustee for the Touro Synagogue and lands." In June 2016 Congregation Shearith Israel announced it would appeal the decision. Congregation Shearith Israel was awarded ownership on August 2, 2017 by the
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
.
On March 18, 2019, the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
declined to take up the case; thus, the lower court ruling that Congregation Shearith Israel owns Touro stands.
Images
File:Touro Synagogue Newport Rhode Island 3.jpg, The building's exterior in 2009
File:Touro Synagogue interior.jpg, The synagogue's interior in 2019
File:Touro Synagogue Visitor Center Newport Rhode Island.jpg, Loeb Visitors Center, built in 2009
File:Levi Gale House Newport RI edit1.jpg, The adjacent Levi H. Gale House is used as a Jewish community center
A Jewish Community Center or a Jewish Community Centre (JCC) is a general recreational, social, and fraternal organization serving the Jewish community in a number of cities. JCCs promote Jewish culture and heritage through holiday celebrations ...
See also
*
Touro Cemetery
*
Touro Synagogue (New Orleans) Touro Synagogue is a Reform synagogue in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was named after Judah Touro, the son of Isaac Touro, the namesake of the country's oldest synagogue, Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island.
The New Orleans Touro Synagogue is ...
*
Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim
Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim ( he, קהל קדוש בית אלוהים, also known as K. K. Beth Elohim, or more simply Congregation Beth Elohim) is a Reform Synagogue located in Charleston, South Carolina. Having founded the congregation in 1749, i ...
*
Partners for Sacred Places
*
List of the oldest synagogues in the United States
*
*
Slavery in Rhode Island
Notes
References
External links
Touro Synagogue Official WebsiteTouro Synagogue National Historic Site(National Park Service profile)
*
Washington's and Seixas' letters
*
Loeb Visitors Center(Starting point for tours of Touro Synagogue)
{{Protected areas of Rhode Island
Religious buildings and structures completed in 1763
Religious organizations established in 1763
Jewish-American history
Spanish and Portuguese Jews
Synagogues in Rhode Island
Buildings and structures in Newport, Rhode Island
Sephardi Jews topics
Synagogues on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island
Museums in Newport, Rhode Island
Jewish museums in the United States
18th-century synagogues
Religious museums in Rhode Island
Synagogues preserved as museums
Portuguese-American culture in Rhode Island
Portuguese-Jewish culture in the United States
Sephardi Jewish culture in the United States
Spanish-American culture in Rhode Island
Spanish-Jewish culture in the United States
Historic American Buildings Survey in Rhode Island
National Register of Historic Places in Newport, Rhode Island
1763 establishments in Rhode Island
Historic district contributing properties in Rhode Island
Sephardi synagogues