After bitter dispute over Touro Synagogue, new congregation forming to take over

NEWPORT – A new Jewish congregation is poised to take leadership of Newport's Touro Synagogue after a court ruling that approved the eviction of the group that has called the historic site its home for more than a century.

New York-based Congregation Shearith Israel, the nation’s oldest Jewish congregation, issued a statement this week announcing its partnership with the newly formed Congregation Ahavath Israel of Newport, an Orthodox nonprofit organization incorporated in April. The announcement came days after Superior Court Judge Maureen B. Keough’s decision cleared the way for Shearith Israel to evict Congregation Jeshuat Israel from the synagogue after a long and bitter dispute over ownership and oversight of the synagogue and its artifacts.

Jeshuat Israel congregants, many of whom were in the courtroom for the Aug. 24 ruling, were dismayed.

“We are saddened to be facing eviction from our spiritual home after almost 140 years of praying in Touro Synagogue and caring for, restoring and maintaining the building and ensuring an active local Orthodox congregation,” Michael Pimental and Louise Ellen Teitz, co-presidents of Congregation Jeshuat Israel, said in a statement.

They expressed gratitude that Keough had issued a temporary stay of the eviction order and said that lawyers are reviewing the next steps, which could include an appeal. The case returns to court Sept. 19.

New partnership vows to `look forward’

In its statement, Shearith Israel credited the ruling as a determination that it “was within its rights to reclaim possession” of Touro Synagogue, the nation’s oldest existing synagogue, which was dedicated on the first night of Hanukkah in 1763.

“With our partners at Ahavath Israel, we are committed not only to reviving the Newport Jewish community but to reviving the place Touro Synagogue has in the hearts and minds of Jews all over America,” said Louis Solomon, president of Congregation Shearith Israel.

More: Eviction of Touro Synagogue congregation heads to trial. These are the arguments.

Paul Tobak, a fourth-generation Newporter and Realtor, and Dr. James K. Herstoff, a Newport dermatologist, are among the founding members of the board of directors of Newport’s new Congregation Ahavath Israel.

“Our plan is to always look forward. As things progressed, there was a concern about what can be done to ensure that services would continue should [Congregation] Jeshuat Israel no longer be present,” Herstoff said. A new Orthodox Jewish congregation was needed to step in, and the transition from Jeshuat Israel is expected to be seamless, he said.

New congregation has historic roots

Ahavath Israel has roots in Newport dating to 1915, when Tobak’s forebears founded Congregation Ahavas Achim, an Orthodox congregation with largely Eastern European membership, Tobak said.

Touro Synagogue will be led by a board with membership taken from both the Newport and New York congregations, with a board of overseers drawn from greater Rhode Island and elsewhere in the United States, according to the statement.

Rhode Island Secretary of State records indicate that Ahavath Israel was incorporated in April. In addition to Tobak and Herstoff, its directors include Solomon and two other Shearith Israel leaders, L. Stanton Towne and Karen Daar.

`Great many things to accomplish’

According to Solomon, the new leadership has many “great many things to accomplish for the Newport Jewish community and for Touro Synagogue.”

Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel, will be the acting rabbi of Congregation Ahavath Israel. Soloveichik is expected to deliver special lectures.

“We want to have scholars there. We want people to come up for the summers there. CJI members are welcome and encouraged to attend services at Touro Synagogue whenever they like and become members if they wish. Now is a time to heal and a time to grow,” Solomon said.

Tobak, president of Ahavath Israel, echoed Solomon.

“Congregation Ahavath Israel and Congregation Shearith Israel welcome the entire Newport and greater Rhode Island Jewish community to join together in Touro Synagogue for prayer services and special programs,” Tobak said. “As we head into the High Holiday season, we extend wishes for a year of good health, peace and success for the Touro Synagogue and the entire Newport community. We look forward to the future.”

'Like a phoenix rising'

Constructed of brick on a hillside overlooking the city’s busy port in the mid-1700s, Touro Synagogue has stood as an enduring symbol of religious freedom since George Washington’s 1790 address there promising religious liberty and tolerance for all Americans.

“The synagogue is a very important historical building in Newport,” said Herstoff, 77, who has worshiped at the synagogue across 70 years. “Paul and I feel there’s a great future … like phoenix rising out of the flames.”

History of the feud

Acrimony has marked the long legal battle that began in 2012, when Congregation Jeshuat Israel moved to sell a pair of centuries-old finial bells, or rimonim, to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston to build up its coffers. Shearith Israel, under Solomon’s leadership, objected, arguing that it would violate the customs of Orthodox Spanish and Portuguese Jews.

The dispute played out in federal court, with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in 2017 that Shearith Israel was the rightful owner of the Touro Synagogue, its associated land and the rimonim.

Shearith Israel moved to evict Congregation Jeshuat Israel earlier this year.

Keough had urged the parties to continue mediation, warning “If you leave this up to me, someone is going to be sorely, sorely disappointed." Nonetheless, the congregations were unable to reach a resolution.

Difficult decisions

Tobak said he wrestled with the decision to leave Congregation Jeshuat Israel, whose members he has known and worshiped with for much of his life,

“I agonized over it. I knew it wasn’t going to be popular and I like being popular,” he said.

It’s an effort, he said, to put the interests of the Jewish community and community at large ahead of his own following the 2017 appeals court decision, which he viewed as decisive.

“This is in the hopes it will preserve our community. It goes beyond the Jews of our community,” Tobak said.

He credited Congregation Shearith Israel with “extending a hand” to him and others by inviting them to come and pray with them in New York City.

“I only saw the potential for betterment. They have resources we don’t have,” Tobak said.

Tobak and Herstoff say they have been reaching out to Jeshuat Israel members to try to mend things.

“I’m working on it. I think I’m going to have to engage one-on-one to allay concerns and rebuild,” Tobak said.

He emphasized that Congregation Jeshuat Israel members as well as Jews and non-Jews are encouraged to attend Touro services.

“They’re not being thrown out. To the contrary, there is nothing to stop them from walking through the gates and into the synagogue,” Tobak said.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Touro Synagogue in Newport will have new leadership after eviction ruling