NEWPORT – A Jewish congregation in Newport is the subject of eviction filings aimed at removing the group from its longtime home, the historic Touro Synagogue, which was built in 1763 and is the oldest synagogue in the U.S.
A New York-based Jewish congregation called Shearith Israel that owns the property recently filed a motion in court to evict the longtime occupants, Congregation Jeshuat Israel, in light of a long-standing dispute with the Newport congregation’s board of directors. This is the latest action in a lengthy legal fight over control of the building on its set of Colonial-era bells that have been valued at $7.4 million.
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The property dispute has caught the attention of U.S. Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., who released a statement denouncing the eviction filings. Cicilline said that the site is considered a National Historic Site and an “integral Rhode Island institution.” Cicilline also noted that the property was once visited by President George Washington, who promised to the Jewish people there that the country “gives to bigotry no sanction” and rejects religious persecution.
“As the nation’s cradle of religious liberty, Touro Synagogue is a symbol of our freedom of worship,” Cicilline said. “Congregation Jeshuat Israel had called Touro Synagogue home and has served as it’s faithful stewards for the last 140 years and should, of course, be allowed to continue to do so. … The filing of official eviction proceedings against the congregation in the District Court of Rhode Island is shameful and egregious.”
This latest legal action comes after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene in a fight over control of the synagogue’s bells, called rimonim. Jeshuat Israel wanted to sell the bells to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
However, that U.S. Supreme Court decision declared the New York congregation the rightful owner of the building.
Marc Larocque is a PBN staff writer. Contact him at Larocque@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter @LaRockPBN.
