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M. L
GENEALOCY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01148 5510
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Interior of the Old Synagogue in Newport.
THE STORY OF THE JEWS OF NEWPORT
THE STORY OF THE JEWS OF NEWPORT
TWO AND A HALF CENTURIES OF JUDAISM 16.58-1908
BY MORRIS A. GUTSTEIN Rabbi, Congregation Jeshuat Israel (Touro Synagogue) Newport, Rhode Island
Introduction By DAVID DE SOLA POOL Rabbi, Spanish-Portuguese Synagogue New York City
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974.502 N47g
New York BLOCH PUBLISHING CO. "The Jewish Book Concern" 1936
Copyright 1936 By Morris A. Gutstein
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages to be printed in a magazine or newspaper.
Printed in the United States of America
1424701
To My Mother SARAH GUTSTEIN DAUGHTER OF Rabbi Isaac Issachar Taubes Grandson of Rabbi Aaron Moses Taubes Author of the Talmudic Commentary "Karnei R'eim" and A Lineal Descendant in the Eighth Generation from Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
Introducton
Chapter Page
I
The Dim Beginnings
19
II Dawn 28
III Progress 48
IV From Inquisition to Freedom 58
V
The Synagogue
79
VI A Glimpse at Jewish Life 111
VII Visitors 146
VIII The Jew in the Community 157
IX Uproar, Dispersion and Decline 173
X
Evacuation and Revival
191
XI
The Close of a Colorful Chapter
214
XII Noble Memories 228
256
XIII
Reconsecration
XIV
Adjustment
268
XV
Immortality
281
Appendices 291
A The Will of Abraham Touro
B Bequests of Judah Touro
C The Inscriptions on the Tombstones in the old Jewish Cemetery of Newport with an Introduction
D Extract from Will of Jacob Rodrigues Rivera
E Extract from Will of Moses Levy
F Deed of Trust of Ann Lopez and other descendants of the early Jewish settlers of Newport conveying the Trust of the Newport Synagogue to the Congregation Shearith Israel of New York City
G Extract from Will of Moses Seixas
H List of Rabbis, Cantors and Shochetim
I List of Presidents and other Officers of the Congregation Jeshuat Israel since 1893
J The Congregation Jeshuat Israel Community Center K The Touro Funds
Notes
339
Glossary
377
Bibliography 383
Index
387
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Interior of the Old Synagogue in Newport. Frontpiece Facing Page
Map of 1712-13 Showing Jew's Street 18
Old Houses in Newport. 26
The Old Scroll of the Old Synagogue in Newport said to have been brought here by the first 15 Jewish families, who according to tradition came here in 1658 30
Facsimile of the last part of the Deed of Purchase of the Old Jewish Cemetery in 1677. 34
Facsimile of the Court Record of the Lawsuit against the Jews of Newport, known as the Dyre Suit, which took place in 1685. 42
Picture of the Exterior of the Old Jewish Cemetery as it appears today
46
Picture of the Interior of the Old Jewish Cemetery
47
Aaron Lopez
66
Jacob Rodrigues Rivera 74
Exterior of the old Synagogue in Newport
78
Facsimile of the Deed of Purchase of the Land for the Synagogue 82
Facsimile of the Signatures to the Letter sent by the
Congregation Yeshuat Israel of Newport to the Congregation Shearith Israel of New York soliciting financial assistance, written in 1759 90
Interior of Synagogue showing the Reading Desk in the Center and the Ark in the East. 94
The Ten Commandments with an old Spanish translation, a replica of which is found in the Synagogue 98
The Large Candelabrum of the Synagogue with Four Human Figures in the Center, still in use and said to be a relic from a Spanish monastery dating from the time of the Inquisition 106
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Facing Page
Rabbi Haym Isaac Carregal 110
Title Page of Sermon Preached by Rabbi Carregal 126
Contemporary Scene of a Rosh Hashanah Service in the Spanish-Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam Holland, dating from 1776, and after which building probably the Newport Synagogue was modeled 130
Silver ornaments and other ritual objects of the Synagogue, dating from pre-Revolutionary times. 138
Old Matzo Board, preserved at the Synagogue, used
for the preparation of the dough for the Matzos. . 142
Facsimile of a Page of the Shipping Book of Aaron Lopez 158
Abraham Touro as a child during the Revolution 174
Moses Michael Hays 190
Facsimile of Address to George Washington by Moses
Seixas in the Name of the Congregation of Newport. 210
Facsimile of Address sent by George Washington to the Newport Congregation. 212
Facsimile of Title Page of "A Lunar Calendar",
calculated by Moses Lopez in 1806 218
Captain Mordecai M. Myers
222
Abraham Touro 238
Judah Touro 242
Redwood Library and Old Stone Mill, both in Newport. 250
Touro Park, Newport. 251
Rabbi Abraham Pereira Mendes. 258
Order of the Service at the Reconsecration of the Synagogue 266
Tablet to the Memory of the Reverend Isaac Touro, the Reverend Abraham Pereira Mendes, Judah and Abraham Touro, erected in the Synagogue in 1908. 286
Sketch of the Old Cemetery as it appears today, with an outline of the Graves and Gravestones 302
PREFACE
Many attempts have been made in the past to write the history of the Jews of Newport. Some fine mono- graphs have been produced by various writers; but these give neither a comprehensive nor a complete picture of the Jew of Newport in his colonial environment. In most cases the desire for brevity necessitated the elimina- tion of vital facts.
The addition of this volume to the already numerous collection of books and pamphlets on the history of the Jews in America in general and, in particular the history of the Jews in various localities where they settled at an early date, is not therefore superfluous and, I believe it will be welcomed. This is the first attempt to give a complete and comprehensive study of the Jew of Newport, picturing from the religious, economic, social and political point of view the entire colonial back- ground with which the Jew identified himself. The task of making this study has not been easy nor could it be quickly accomplished. It required much time and patience, yet the reward of the labor has been great, and the toil was fully compensated by the interest the subject evoked.
9
PREFACE
This volume undertakes to portray the story of two and a half centuries of Jewish life in the city of Newport. While necessity involves references to other Jewish settlements in North America, these have been used only in so far as they are relevant to Newport. Inasmuch as Jewish life during this period included many phases of community life, I added the subtitle "Two And a Half Centuries of Judaism", using the term Judaism as significant of a comprehensive cul- ture. The period covered is from 1658 to 1908, a period which constitutes an integrated unit.
As far as possible I have made use of contemporary manuscripts and other original sources as the basis for the facts in the book. Wherever a dispute exists amongst writers on the subject, references to the dispute. are given in the notes. In such cases I have stated in the text my own conclusions in the matter, relegating polemics to the notes.
The contemporary manuscript material on the subject is very scarce. Whatever is available has had to be searchingly and critically examined in order to derive from it every bit of relevant material. Unfortu- nately, the manuscript archives of the American Jewish Historical Society were not accessible to me. According to information given to me by the Librarian of that Society, whatever material on Newport the Society pos- sesses has been published in the "Publications" of the Society of which of course, I have made extensive and grateful use.
I have been enabled to study at first hand the manu-
10
PREFACE
script material in the archives of the Newport Historical Society, and the Rhode Island Historical Society in Providence. Wherever facts not readily traceable are mentioned, the sources are given in the notes following the text.
To complete the survey, I have added as appendices to the book the Will of Abraham Touro, the list of the. bequests of Judah Touro, as well as other excerpts from Wills of some of the early Jewish residents of Newport which bear on the subject of the book. In the appendix, also, is a complete list of the original inscriptions on the tombstones of the old Jewish cemetery in Newport with an introduction and drawing of what seems to have been the original area of the burial ground. A work of this nature would be incomplete without illus- trations, and I have therefore enriched the volume by plates, most of which have never appeared in print be- fore. At the end of the book I have added a Glossary, in which are explained all non-English words that occur in the text.
I wish here to record my acknowledgement and sincere gratitude to the Reverend Doctor David De Sola Pool, the spiritual leader of the Spanish-Portuguese Synagogue in New York, for his kind assistance in reading the manuscript and offering many constructive suggestions, and for writing the Introduction; to Albert L. Greenberg, Esq., for his most friendly encouragement which stimulated me to write the book; to Captain N. Taylor Phillips, the president of the Spanish Portuguese Synagogue in New York, for giving me
11
PREFACE
access to the old records and archives of the Congrega- tion which were of material assistance in reconstructing the period of the reconsecration of the Newport Syna- gogue; and to Mr. Eric O'D. Taylor of Newport, who read the manuscript and made some helpful suggestions.
I earnestly hope that the reading of this book will leave with the reader the impression of noble and as- pirant Judaism so deeply felt by the author while work- ing on it and collecting material for it.
Morris A. Gutstein
Newport, R. I., August 1936.
12
INTRODUCTION
Rhode Island's fair city of Newport is a town of unique beauty and charm. These qualities are no Jonah's gourd grown up overnight. They have the mellowness and the deep roots of New England's finest cultural tradition. In Newport's quiet streets one breathes freely and deeply of the air that nourished the spirit of Roger Williams ..
The Jew walks through Touro Street in Newport quietly conscious of inheriting a tradition both of American political and religious liberty and of Jewish idealism and religious faith. The synagogue, which has stood for one and three quarter centuries and which has withstood the alarms of war and the fatalities of swiftly changing time, is a witness of Newport's liberality of spirit and reverence for the ancient Bible, and Israel's loyalty to the teachings which it has borne on its cen- turied pilgrimage to the four corners of the earth. The quiet God's acre in which lies the dust of Newport's Jews of Colonial days speaks of the identification of the Jew with American life for well nigh three centuries since sturdy Jewish pioneers threw in their lot with their fellow Americans in wresting from the wilderness a
13
INTRODUCTION
settlement of security and refuge for those of all de- nominations and races seeking ampler living. The Jewish Community Center opposite the Synagogue symbolizes the vigor of the new-old Jewish life which has taken up the broken thread, and is continuing to weave on the American background the ancient pattern of the Jewish spirit.
This is the story which Rabbi Gutstein sets out to tell. It is one that is well worth the telling. It is a brilliant tale in which we meet dignified hidalgos bearing such sun-warmed names as Rodrigues Rivera, Lopez or Touro, working, playing and praying harmoniusly with their brethren from bleaker climes who bear such names as Pollock, Myers or Hart. It is a record which recalls to life the victims of medieval persecution, and the romance of their martyred faith hidden in the un- touchable recesses of their soul until in Rhode Island's freedom the cherished faith could again be avowed in light and liberty. It is a story through the pages of which move the intellectually avid and humanist scholar Ezra Stiles of Yale College, the exotic, gaudily clad Oriental Rabbi Carregal, honest merchant princes, and many another unusual and engaging figure. It is a recital which lifts the veil to give us many a charming glimpse of the quaint customs and alluring naivete of life in the Newport of Colonial days.
It is a story through which sweeps the tempest of the Revolution, while the synagogue stands quiet and untouched, even serving as the meeting place of the General Assembly of Rhode Island. In the telling of
14
INTRODUCTION
the tale we meet with George Washington who, echoing words addressed to him by Moses Seixas, gives classic expression to America's ideal of a land in which no more is toleration "spoken of as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Govern- ment of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean them- selves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support".
Truly this is a story which needed to be told, so that Gentile and Jew alike should bear in unfading memory the consciousness of America's tradition of religious liberty and human brotherhood. This record needs the more to be recited at this time in mankind's history when in the Old World against which America rebelled, systems of nationalistic living are being set up which give to bigotry governmental sanction and to persecution governmental assistance. These twentieth century concepts of the State ruthlessly reject as excessively kindly and compromising even that toleration which George Washington rejected as insufficiently kindly and as incommensurate with the dignity of selfhood and the nobility of the human spirit. If we would preserve our American tradition from contamination by perverted nationalism, we must study such records of our past as this story of Newport in order to understand how strong and how lifegiving are the roots of American democracy and American liberty of the spirit.
15
INTRODUCTION
Well may we be grateful to Rabbi Gutstein for the diligence and devotion which he has put into this valuable and fully documented tale of historic Newport Jewry.
D. de Sola Pool
16
THE STORY OF THE JEWS OF NEWPORT
7
ANN ST ..
THAMES STREET
CLICK STREET
-
SPRINGSI
HIGH ST
SCHOOL ST
CHEFFIN. STREET
CHURCHET
-FRANK LANG .....
...
KING'S STRULT
CAFFOU SY
COPIE OF A DROUGHT OF THE TOWN OF
NEW PORT Taken and drawn by JOHN MUMFORD January 3# 1712- 13
77
Map of 1712-13 Showing Jew's Street.
ate
CHAPTER I THE DIM BEGINNINGS
The wandering of Israel throughout the world has given cause for admiration of the ever-living, indestruct- ible and eternal people. Many have seen the "Finger of God", in the miraculous survival of the Jewish people in the face of so many disintergrating forces. And it is indeed so. The natural law of the survival of a people does not apply to the survival of the people of Israel. Without a land for peaceful habitation, without sov- ereignty of any nature, for millennia without freedom or protection, living constantly amid misunderstanding, persecution and threat of expulsion, speaking languages not of his own, and forced to adapt himself to ways of life not his own, the Jew, nevertheless, has defied all the forces which might have made for his annihilation.
What is it that kept and still keeps Israel together and ensures its existence despite the ever present shadow of gloom?
The Rabbis of old seemed to have sensed the answer in this beautiful comment: When God had forgiven Israel for the sin of the Golden Calf, Moses implored God saying, "I now feel convinced that Thou hast for- given Israel, but I wish Thou wouldst show the nations
19
THE STORY OF THE JEWS OF NEWPORT
also, that Thou art reconciled with Israel". To this the Rabbis picture God as replying, "As truly as thou livest, I will let my Shechinah dwell among them, so that all may know that I have forgiven Israel. My sanctuary in their midst will be a testimony of My forgiveness of their sins, and hence it may well be called a Tabernacle of Testimony."
The "Tabernacle of Testimony" in the Diaspora has been the Synagogue. The Synagogue has maintained the very soul of the life of the Jew in his sojournings ever since the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Hither the Jew came to confide with God in days of joy and in days of sorrow. During the dark times of me- diaevalism the Jew was a stranger in the world, but within his spiritual heritage in the Synagogue, in the presence of his God, he was at home.
The Synagogue, as a modern rabbi declares mani- fested "to Jewry its unitary character, and, weekly and daily renewed the spiritual ties which bind Israel into one fellowship. Where there has been no Synagogue to serve the wandering Jew as the rallying focus of his individual Jewish spirit and the physical nucleus of community life, centrifugal forces have rapidly swept him into the maelstrom of the Gentile world. But where a Synagogue has been established, thither Jews have come together centripetally from far and wide at stated intervals to reaffirm their basic unity, a unity of faith, religious life and tradition, a reflex of the unity of their God." 2
It is in this spirit that we must approach the history
20
THE DIM BEGINNINGS
of the Jews of Newport, Rhode Island.
On a small street, that less than two centuries ago was barren land, in the outskirts of a growing and striving city then on the verge of becoming a metropolis, a street in Newport, that a century ago became known as "Touro Street", there stands a beautiful shrine, an old syna- gogue. No glamor or splendor of marble strikes the eye of him who beholds this sanctuary. No display of riches and wealth invites the attention of the passer-by. Yet awe-inspired and aware of a mighty past stand those who tread the "lone floors where reverent feet once trod". With admiration and reverence, one stands in this holy place before the mystery of Time and God, where the present vanishes, and the Past flashes before the mind in beautiful pictures, making an everlasting imprint on one's memory.
The history of this synagogue is the history of the Jews of Newport. It is the most fascinating chapter in the history of the Jews in America.
Nature has bestowed upon Newport great beauty of environment. It was not the insignificant price of Aquidneck Island - forty fathoms of white beads, ten coats and twenty hoes - which persuaded John Clarke, Anne Hutchinson, William Coddington and other refugees from Massachusetts' religious intolerance, to purchase the island. What persuaded them was the surrounding sea, the fine commodious harbor, the luxuri- ance of the foliage and the variety of the countryside of that pleasant spot. In 1639 the settlers of Newport were thankful to Roger Williams, the founder of
21
THE STORY OF THE JEWS OF NEWPORT
Providence for his advice to procure this land near his own town. Before long Providence and Rhode Island, were not only united in the physical and political sense, but also in the spirit of freedom and liberty.
It is not always that men oppressed and persecuted become liberal and tolerant. Only too often the op- pressed becomes the oppressor. The Puritans of Massachusetts, who had themselves fled from persecu- tion, found it not at all inconsistent to refuse others the right to differ from them in religious faith and practices.3 But not such were the fugitives who settled Rhode Island and Providence nigh three hundred years ago. Roger Williams and John Clarke may indeed deserving- ly be crowned the founders of religious toleration in America. The code of laws, drawn up in 1647, concluded, "And otherwise than thus what is herein forbidden, all men may walk as their consciences persuade them, every one in the name of his God. And let the saints of the Most High walk in this colony without molestation, in the name of the Eternal their God, forever and ever".4
A few years later, Roger Williams declared, "I desire not the liberty to myself which I would not freely and impartially weigh out to all the consciences of the world beside". 5
Thus Rhode Island and Providence became a haven of refuge for many a weary wanderer and many an oppressed soul. To give still more assurance of welcome to those unwanted elsewhere, the colony of Rhode Island enacted in 1652 that, "all men of whatever nation soever they may be, that shall be received inhabitants of any of
22
THE DIM BEGINNINGS
the towns, shall have the same privileges as Englishmen any law to the contrary notwithstanding". This legal enactment was supplemented with the famous ship simile written by Roger Williams in January 1655, "there goes many a ship to sea with many hundreds souls on ship, whose weal and woe is common and is a true picture of a commonwealth as a human combination or society. It has fallen out sometimes, that both Papists and Protestants, Jews and Turks, may be embarked in one ship, upon which supposal, I affirm, that liberty of conscience that ever I pleaded for, turns upon these two hinges, that none of the Papists, Protestants, Jews or Turks, be forced to come to the ship's prayer or worship, or compelled from their own particular prayers or wor- ship if they practice any. I further add that I never desired, that nothwithstanding this liberty, the com- mander of this ship ought to command the ship's course yea, also command that justice, peace and sobriety be kept and practiced both among the seamen and all the passengers". 6
Such sentiments could have no other effect than to invite to the shores of Rhode Island all those who because of their religious convictions could find no rest- ing place elsewhere. Among these were the Jews.
The coming of the Jews to Newport is antedated by a century and a half of woeful history for the Jewish people in the New World. Soon after the first white man, Luis de Torres, a Marrano, converted by the Inquisition in Spain, set foot on American soil, many of the exiles from Spain and later from Portugal, sought
23
THE STORY OF THE JEWS OF NEWPORT
refuge on these shores. In vain was their attempt to secure peace. The clutches of the Inquisition extended across the wide ocean. Before long, the fires of the auto- da-fe were raging in the market places of the New World, with equal terror as in the Old. The Holy Offices shed no blood, but it burnt alive the accused Judaizer. Mexico, Peru, Central America and the West Indies, were the scenes of these dreadful acts in the religious drama that began more than four centuries ago.
Not until the capture of Brazil by the Dutch in the first half of the seventeenth century did the Jews find in the New World, a haven of refuge from persecution. Not much time was needed after the Dutch conquest of Recife in 1631, before we find in this colony a large number of Jews forming a community, possessing con- siderable wealth, and engaging in commercial enterprises which yielded innumerable benefits to Holland as well as to themselves. As early as 1640 a traveler is quoted commenting: "Among the Free-Inhabitants of Brazil, the Jews are most considerable in number; they have a vast Traffic beyond the rest; they purchased Sugar Mills and bought stately Houses in Recife" .?
The Jewish community of Recife was augmented, in 1642, by 600 Spanish and Portuguese Jews who came there from Holland. Among them were the Rabbis Isaac Aboab de Fonseca and Moses Raphael Aguilar, who became the spiritual leaders of the Congregation at Recife. Thus the community began to prosper spiritually as well as economically.
It was not destined, however, that this remnant of
24
THE DIM BEGINNINGS
Spanish-Portuguese Jewry should enjoy its happiness in the New World for a long period. After several attempts, in 1654, Portugal finally succeeded in sub- jugating Brazil to its rule. In January of that year the Dutch yielded to the Portuguese: Recife, Mauritestad Parayba, Itamarica, Seara and others of its possessions in America. With the conquest by the Portuguese came the destruction of the peace and happiness that their industrious labor had brought them in that part of the New World, and the end of a beautiful chapter of Israel in America.
With the Portuguese conquest came the Inquisition. 'The Jewish population was given the opportunity of leaving the country and escaping their new status as "relapsi". Over five thousand Jews left Recife itself. Most of them returned to their native land, Holland, where they were received very cordially. A number scattered through various other American Colonies. Others found their way to London. One contingent, after a perilous rescue from pirates on the high seas, sought shelter in New Amsterdam, now New York, which was then a Dutch possession. This group consisted of twenty-three Sephardic Jews.
This begins the history of the Jews in North America. Strange as it seems, New Amsterdam, which at present harbors nearly 2,000,000 Jews, the largest Jewish community in the world, was not ready at that time to welcome these few poor and downtrodden sons of Israel. For instance Domine Johannes Megapolensis wrote to the Classis of Amsterdam in 1655 concerning this hand-
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