Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Dueling Synagogues Fire Opening Salvos $7M Court Fight

Opening statements began in a Rhode Island legal battle pitting America’s oldest congregation against the congregation that worships in America’s oldest synagogue structure.

The trial between Congregation Shearith Israel of New York City and members of a congregation that worships in Touro Synagogue of Newport, Rhode Island — both of which claim control over the Newport synagogue’s building and its contents — began Monday in U.S. District Court in Providence.

The conflict began in 2012 when Congregation Jeshuat Israel, which worships at Touro, America’s oldest synagogue building, agreed to sell a set of 18th-century bells adorning a Torah scroll for $7.4 million to Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. The proceeds were used to set up an endowment to care for the Touro building and keep a rabbi in residence.

Shearith Israel, which is the oldest American Jewish congregation and has served as the trustee of Touro for nearly 200 years, in objecting to the transaction said that Jeshuat Israel did not have the right to sell synagogue property.

In opening arguments Monday, the attorney for Jeshuat Israel asked Judge John McConnell to remove Shearith Israel as trustee, arguing that until the cash-strapped Rhode Island congregation opted to sell the silver bells, the New York shul had neglected its trustee responsibilities, the Providence Journal reported.

Louis Solomon, a representative of Shearith Israel, described the leaders of Jeshuat Israel as “lessees of the property” who “have gone astray.”

“Selling your birthright is not a good idea,” Solomon added, according to the Providence Journal. “Selling someone else’s is even worse.”

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.