Les Juifs de Newport (Rhode Island)

Newport, in the colony of Rhode Island renowned for its religious tolerance, was one of the first centers of organized Jewish life in North America, welcoming Sephardim from the colonial era onward. Jewish merchants participated in Atlantic maritime trade there. The Touro Synagogue, consecrated in 1763, is the oldest synagogue still standing in the United States, and the community is also associated with the famous letter from George Washington affirming religious freedom with regard to Jews. The community subsequently declined with the city's economic retreat after the War of Independence, before Jewish life reappeared there at a later time.

Sources & resources

• Encyclopaedia Judaica — 2e éd., Keter/Macmillan
• Jewish Virtual Library ↗