Touro Synagogue - Newport, RI

09/09/2026

Religious News Service visits Touro and speaks to our senior docent, Aaron Ginsburg.

06/30/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/1B5eaNHu4q/?mibextid=wwXIfr

06/30/2026

TOURO SYNAGOGUE CELEBRATES RELIGIOUS FREEDOM DAY
Tuesday, July 7, 2026 | Open House 10am–4pm

Join us as we celebrate religious liberty in Newport, RI. Touro Synagogue, which was dedicated on December 2, 1763, will be open to the public for this special day. Rhode Island has had religious freedom since it was first settled in 1636. George Washington wrote a letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport Rhode Island that makes an important statement about religious freedom.

Docent Aaron Ginsburg will be on hand to answer your questions.

📍72 Touro Street, Newport, RI

Donations gratefully appreciated.

More info on tours and services: https://www.thetourosynagogue.org/ We look forward to seeing you!

List of other participants:
https://newporthistory.org/event/independence-week-religious-freedom-day/

06/26/2026

As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, the story of Newport during the Revolution is being told in the new exhibition Revolution Reimagined at the Rosecliff. https://www.newportmansions.org/events/revolution-reimagined/

One of the objects on display is a remarkable piece of Touro Synagogue history: an eighteenth-century matzah board used by Newport's Jewish community.

The Revolution divided Newport's Jewish community just as it divided the city itself.

Rev. Isaac Touro, minister of Touro Synagogue, remained in Newport during the British occupation. When British forces evacuated the city in 1779, he departed with the Loyalists for New York. As the war turned decisively in favor of the Americans, he fled again to Jamaica in 1782, where he died shortly thereafter.

His brother-in-law, Moses Michael Hays, chose a very different path. A committed Patriot, he left Newport for Boston rather than live under British occupation. In late 1775, when residents of Newport were asked to swear an oath of loyalty containing the words "upon the true faith of a Christian," Hays refused to sign until those words were removed—an enduring example of his commitment both to the Patriot cause and to religious equality.

We encourage you to visit Revolution Reimagined to explore the lives of Newport's residents during this pivotal era—and to see the historic Touro Synagogue matzah board on display.

You can learn more about the exhibition here: https://www.newportmansions.org/events/revolution-reimagined/

The Jewish experience during the Revolution can also be explored through other exhibitions across the country. Several important objects from Congregation Shearith Israel, owner of Touro Synagogue, are currently on display as part of America's 250th commemoration. You can learn more here: https://www.shearithisrael.org/about/shearith-israel-on-display/

06/19/2026

In case you’ll be in NY in June 29…

Join Shearith Israel's Rev. Edinger and Dr. Laura Leibman at the Jewish Museum for an evening of conversation inspired by the current exhibition "Circa 1776," exploring lives of Jews in Colonial America, and touching upon the works loaned to the exhibition by Shearith Israel.

Get your tickets here: https://thejewishmuseum.org/program/062926-reflections-on-circa-1776-jews-in-colonial-america/

06/08/2026

Interested in experiencing shabbat services in the beautiful Touro Synagogue, the oldest active synagogue in the US, and an iconic symbol of religious freedom for all? Join us in Newport this summer or any time of year. To register for hosted shabbat meals click here, and to discuss shabbat friendly accommodations, email [email protected]

Send a message to learn more

05/08/2026

The right topic at the right place at the right time.

05/07/2026

This Shabbat we welcome the return of the “Lewisohn Sefer Torah” to Touro Synagogue. After the scroll was torn in October 2025, it was sent to Shearith Israel in New York for repair by a scribe. It has been restored to kosher status and returned to Touro Synagogue this week.

The Lewisohn scroll has a remarkable history. In 1900, Albert Lewisohn (son of Samuel Lewisohn) married Lillie Lewisohn (daughter of Albert’s half-brother, Leonard Lewisohn) at Touro Synagogue. The wedding was noted in the contemporary press, with particular attention given to the synagogue’s floral decorations.

In honor of the occasion, Leonard Lewisohn, father of the bride, donated a Sefer Torah to the synagogue.

The Torah was written by Reverend Abraham Haim Nieto, hazzan of New York's Congregation Shearith Israel and an accomplished sofer. Nieto wrote several other Torah scrolls, including two for Shearith Israel in New York, and another for Congregation Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia. His scrolls are notable for their beautiful Western Sephardic script and for their unusually thin, lightweight parchment.

The Lewisohn scroll remained in regular use until October 2025, when part of the parchment tore and required repair. The restoration was recently completed, and this Shabbat the Lewisohn Sefer Torah will once again be read at Touro Synagogue for an upcoming bar mitzvah celebration.

There is something especially meaningful about seeing a Torah scroll—written more than a century ago by a hazzan of Shearith Israel, donated for a wedding celebration in Touro Synagogue in 1900, and used continuously across generations—still alive and serving the community today.