USA > Rhode Island > Newport County > Newport > The story of the Jews of Newport; two and a half centuries of Judaism, 1658-1908 > Part 15
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A year later, on December 23d, the synagogue was used for the funeral of Rebecca Lopez, the only daughter of the Reverend Isaac Touro. Two days later the Rhode Island Republican carried the news in the following words: "The Steamboat from New York, which arrived here on Sunday last, brought the body of Mrs. Lopez to be interred in the Jewish Cemetery in this town. The corpse was placed in the Synagogue until Monday morning, at ten o'clock, when the services were performed according to the Jewish Ceremony, by Reverend Isaac B. Seixas, in the presence of a large number of citizens, - - thence the body was conveyed to the cemetery and interred with additional ceremony at the grave".
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The author of the brief article adds a very significant historic note: "This is the first time for the last forty years that the ceremony of the Jews has been performed in the Synagogue".
Rebecca had been married to Joshua Lopez, a son of Aaron Lopez of Newport. The marriage was consecrated by the Reverend Isaac Benjamin Seixas of New York. Joshua Lopez was then about 60 years old, while Rebecca was 10 years younger. It was not destined that they should enjoy married life for long. A little more than four and a half years after their marriage, Rebecca departed for the World of Eternity on December 19, 1853. Her last wish was to be interred in the cemetery of Newport. She left no children.
Two years later the synagogue was opened for the funeral of Judah Hays, the son of Moses Michael Hays. He died on May 1, 1832.
The synagogue was in use on October 19, 1836, on the occasion of the interment of Slowey Hays, a daughter of Moses Michael Hays, and a cousin of the Touro family. Thus, with the exception of funeral elegies and hymns, Longfellow spoke the truth when he 'wrote:
"Closed are the portals of their Synagogue, No Psalms of David now the silence break, No Rabbi reads the ancient Decalogue In the grand dialect the Prophets spake". The poet was right when he added
"Gone are the living, but the dead remain,
And not neglected; for a hand unseen,
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Scattering the bounty, like a summer rain, Still keeps their graves, and their remembrance green".17
Affectionate memories of Newport were cherished by the other son of the Reverend Isaac Touro, Judah Touro. We have seen how Judah Touro, at the dawn of the nineteenth century, established his residence in the city of New Orleans. At the time he landed there, the town had from eight to ten thousand inhabitants, and its population was increasing by leaps and bounds. This proved a very fruitful field for the energetic Judah. He opened a small store on St. Louis Street, where he began a growing and profitable trade in soap, candles, codfish, and the other exports from New England. His demon- strated integrity secured him a large trade. The business was very prosperous and in a short time he accumulated money which he invested in real estate and ships, all of which advanced in price very rapidly. Before long he had amassed a great fortune.
As a rule, when one accumulates a fortune, he is tempted to change his mode of life, and lead a life of luxury. This was not the case with Judah Touro. He never indulged in wild speculation nor did he turn aside from his regular line of trade. He continued his business, which he enlarged, gradually, to accommodate the in- crease which came with the years. He conducted his mercantile enterprises with strict honesty, worked hard, and gained the confidence of all who dealt with him. This contributed not a little to his success.
A writer who knew Touro personally at New Orleans
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Judah Touro.
NOBLE MEMORIES
gave a character sketch of the man, such as only an eye witness can give. Among other things, he said, "How little of the hero, or great man, was there in the simple, humble aspect of that timid, shrinking old man, who was wont to glide so silently and diffidently through the street, with his hands behind him, his eyes fixed on the pavement, and his homely old face, wrinkled with age, but replete with expression, of gentle kindness and benevolence".18
It seemed that the more he gave, the richer he became. But he made sure that no publicity should be given to the charitable gifts, which he distributed because of his love to his fellow man. As this writer put it, "He deprived himself of all other luxuries in order to enjoy, and gratify, with keener relish, and greater intensity, his single passion, and appetite, to do good to his fellow man. ... His only art and stealth were displayed in the concealment of his benefactions".
The first sign of Judah Touro's memory of past days in Newport was displayed in connection with the cemetery. Abraham Touro had not provided in his will for the upkeep and preservation of the cemetery. The brick wall which he erected around it before his death protected the burial ground from further exposure to the damage to which it had been subject before, but it did not remove the destruction already wrought. Besides, after twenty years, though the brick wall was up, additional decay set in the stones and the wall was in poor repair. When a resident of Bellevue Avenue near the cemetery remarked to a friend of Touro, "That it
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would be a commendable act on the part of Mr. Touro were he to enclose the burial ground with a noble wall of granite, as the then present brick wall was in a decayed state",19 it was not very long after that before he built a beautiful granite wall to replace the old brick one, at a cost of $12,000.
It was in 1842 that Judah Touro resolved to restore and beautify the place of the sepulchre of his fathers. Accordingly, he commissioned a personal friend to have the cemetery put in perfect order, to repair and restore the monuments, to beautify the grounds and to oversee the construction of the Quincy granite bases and pillars to hold the iron railing which forms the enclosure around the old cemetery even to the present day. The entire work was executed under the direction of Isaiah Rogers, a noted architect of Boston.
This contribution of Judah Touro induced the Town Council to have a similar enclosure erected around the synagogue, for, on July 9, 1842, we read in the Newport Mercury: "We understand that the Town Council, under authority given by the General Assymbly, have contracted with Mr. Rogers of Boston, to enclose the Synagogue lot, with a substantial stone wall and Iron fence, similar to the one which he has just completed around the Hebrew Cemetery - The work will consist of an ornamental cast Iron fence with a basement of cut Quincy Granite on Touro and Barney Streets, and a substantial granite wall on the east and west sides of the lot. The Gateway will be on Touro Street and correspond with the Portico of the Synagogue".20
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The enclosure around the synagogue cost $6,835 and was completed towards the end of the year.
In this manner, both the synagogue and the cemetery were surrounded with beautiful, substantial and lasting walls, protecting the historic relics from easy invasion.
There are no records of any Jewish families per- manently settled in Newport during this time. Yet it seems that the city was visited often by transient Jews, and, occasionally, especially during the summer, a number of Jews spent their vacations in this town. This is evidenced from the fact that in August, 1850, accord- ing to the Newspaper of the day, the synagogue was opened for the first time "after an intermission of about sixty years" for regular worship. For several Saturdays the Reverend Doctor Morris J. Raphall, the spiritual leader of the Elm Street Synagogue of New York, conducted the services. He also delivered a series of six discourses on Wednesdays and Saturday evenings, on the "Poetry of the Hebrews". According to the same report: "The public worship in the Synagogue was well attended by the people of the Town who were gratified to have the opportunity of witnessing the forms and ceremonies of worship which was once attended in that House of Worship, by the Lopez's, the Riveras and other Jews who were among the inhabitants of Newport, previous to the Revolution".21
These services during the summer were but a fore- shadowing of what was to come. They were not a revival of the old worship, but they were an indication of the beginning of a new Jewish community, though
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more than a quarter of a century was still to pass before the nucleus of the new Jewish comunity in Newport was to be visible. In the meantime, on the 18th of January, 1854, the venerable philanthropist Judah Touro was gathered to his fathers, at the age of 79, to the sorrow of the entire population of New Orleans. The newspapers and the pulpits eulogized him and paid just tribute to his virtues, in words to which his modesty would have objected during his lifetime.
When his will was opened, it was found to contain as the first request, "I desire that my mortal remains be buried in the Jewish Cemetery in Newport, Rhode Island, as soon as practical after my decease". Among the many bequests to institutions of various creeds and colors, amounting to nearly half a million dollars, the will was found to contain "I give and bequeath ten thousand dollars for the purpose of paying the salary of a Reader or Minister to officiate in the Jewish Synagogue of Newport, Rhode Island, and to endow the Ministry of the same, as well as to keep in repair and embellish the Jewish Cemetery in Newport afore- said; the said amount to be appropriated and paid, or invested for that purpose in such manner as my executors may determine concurrently with the corporation of Newport aforesaid, if necessary".22
According to his desire, his mortal remains were brought to Newport for interment. On June 6, of the same year, his body arrived in Newport on the steamer "Empire City", and was conveyed to the Synagogue, and placed before the reading desk, at which his father
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had ministered more than eighty years before. By the coffin were placed two candles, which burned until the funeral service was over.
The best record of the funeral is found in the city documents of 1854 written by an eye witness:
"The funeral of the late Judah Touro was solemnized same afternoon; the procession was the longest which has been seen here for many years. The streets were crowded with people, the stores all closed, and the bells tolled. About one hundred and fifty Jews were present from various parts of the country.
"The City Council assembled at City Hall, and marched in procession to the Synagogue, the gallery of which was already densely crowded with ladies, and there were thousands on the street who could not gain admission. The coffin stood in front of the reading desk.
"Soon after the arrival of the city government, the Rabbis and other Jews came in procession, the former taking seats in the desk. As soon as the Synagogue was filled, the doors were closed, and thousands remained outside until the ceremonies were concluded.
"The services were conducted by the Rev. J. K. Gutheim, of New Orleans, in Hebrew and English. In his address, which was excellent, he paid a glowing and eloquent tribute to the memory of the departed.
"The following clergymen were present: Rev. Dr. Raphall, Rev. S. M. Isaacs, Rev. Ansel Leo, Rev. J. J. Lyons of New York, Rev. J. K. Gutheim of New Orleans, Rev. Joseph Sachs of Boston, Rev. Isaac Leeser of Philadelphia, and Rev. H. A. Henry of
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Buffalo, -nearly all of whom were in their robes. Delegations of Jews were present from Boston, Hart- ford, New Haven, New York, Buffalo and Philadelphia, to all of which places Mr. Touro made bequests. At the conclusion of the services at the Synagogue, the procession was formed in the order :- Rabbis and Jews from abroad; City Marshall; Mayor; City Clerk. City Treasurer; Board of Aldermen; City Sargeant; President of Common Council; Clerk of Common Council; Common Council; Redwood Library Corpo- ration; preceded by the President and Directors; Protective Company no. 5; Citizens and strangers.
"It moved through the streets as previously announced, to the Cemetery, where the remains were consigned to their native dust. The Rev. Mr. Leeser delivered a very appropriate and eloquent address. After the coffin was deposited in the grave, the Rev. Mr. Isaacs deposited upon it a quantity of earth which was brought from Jerusalem for the purpose, at the same time uttering a few appropriate remarks. Prayers were then offered at the graves of the members of the family.
"This closed these interesting and mournful ceremon- ies, and there was laid in the grave the last, we believe, of the Touro family".23
The last of the Touro family was laid in the grave with the decease of Judah Touro, but the name of Touro is still a living one and will long remain in the hearts of the citizens of Newport.
As to the bequest of Judah Touro for the synagogue, the following is the resolution adopted by the City
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Council, on January 11, 1855. "It is voted and resolved, that the City Council of Newport, do hereby accept the said bequest of ten thousand dollars, for the purposes named in said Will, and the same be invested, as hereinafter provided; and it is further voted and resolved, that a sum not exceeding two hundred dollars be annually expended to keep in repair, and embellish the cemetery aforesaid, subject to the control of David J. Gould and Nathan H. Gould, aforesaid, in accordance with the desire expressed by the testator".24
The legacy of Judah Touro was well invested. Nothing was drawn from this fund which was entitled "The Judah Touro Ministerial and Cemetery Fund", except the $200 annually for the upkeep of the cemetery. It grew steadily with the accumulation of interest, so that in later years an adequate amount was available for the salary of the minister. When the synagogue was reconsecrated, the dearest purpose of Judah Touro was fulfilled.
During his lifetime, Judah Touro had been notably associated with the dedication of the Bunker Hill Monument. Reading in a newspaper one day that Mr. Amos Lawrence had pledged himself to give ten thousand dollars, providing any other person would give a like sum, to complete the monument on Bunker Hill, which had for a long time remained unfinished because of lack of funds, Judah Touro dispatched his check for ten thousand dollars to the committee with his compliments.
On the occasion of the dedication of the monument
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in 1843, in the presence of the President of the United States and Daniel Webster as orator, the generosity of Judah Touro was commemorated by the presiding officer in the toast which has since become famous :-
"Amos and Judah-venerated names!
Patriarch and prophet press their equal claims, Like generous coursers, running neck and neck, Each aids the work by giving it a check.
Christian and Jew, they carry out a plan-
For though of different faith, each is in heart a man".
After his death, Judah Touro's generosity became manifest to all through his last will and testament. To Newport, the city he loved, he bequeathed $10,000 for the purchase of the Old Stone Mill with the grounds around it to be converted into a public park, as well as $3,000 for the Redwood Library, to which he had sent $1,000 in 1843, upon hearing that its portico was in a dilapidated state and needed immediate repair.
The love the former Jewish residents of Newport had for that city is illustrated in still another incident. This was some time in the fifth decade of the century. A woman about 80 years of age whose mother was of the Hart family of Newport came here from Savannah, Georgia. When the custodian of the synagogue opened the historic edifice for her, she sat down on the same seat she had occupied many a time in former days, and devoutly read her prayers. On a second visit, she went on the cemetery. When she was about to return from the cemetery to the hotel to prepare for her journey back
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Redwood Library and Old Stone Mill, both in Newport.
Touro Park, Newport.
NOBLE MEMORIES
to Georgia, she inquired of Mr. Gould who was taking care of the burial ground, whether she might take a little of the soil of the cemetery "that upon her return to her home she could sprinkle it upon the graves of her parents and her family".25
The presence of Jews in Newport during the middle of the nineteenth century appears from a few other records.
In July, 1856, Mr. David Bendau of the Jewish faith, a teacher of foreign languages in one of the colleges in the city of New York, petitioned the Newport City Council to grant him the use of the side-buildng of the synagogue for a school during the summer to teach German. This request, according to the records of the council was not granted.26
Tombstones in the old cemetery show a burial in 1866. Three now obliterated stones mark the graves of children buried in the cemetery sometime after 1842.27 Within the memory of an old member of the Newport Historical Society a funeral took place in the ancient "Abode of Life" sometime in the seventies of the last century.
Yet in 1858, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote:
THE JEWISH CEMETERY AT NEWPORT
How strange it seems! These Hebrews in their graves. Close by the street of this fair seaport town, Silent beside the never-silent waves,
At rest in all this moving up and down!
The trees are white with dust, that o'er their sleep
Wave their broad curtains in the south-wind's breath,
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While underneath these leafy tents they keep The long, mysterious Exodus of Death.
And these sepulchral stones, so old and brown, That pave with level flags their burial-place, Seem like the tablets of the Law, thrown down And broken by Moses at the mountain's base.28
The very names recorded here are strange, Of foreign accent, and of different climes;
Alvares and Rivera interchange With Abraham and Jacob of old times.
"Blessed be God! for he created Death!" The mourners said, "and Death is rest and peace"; Then added, in the certainty of faith,
"And giveth Life that never more shall cease".
Closed are the portals of their Synagogue, No Psalms of David now the silence break,
No Rabbi reads the ancient Decalogue In the grand dialect the Prophets spake.
Gone are the living, but the dead remain, And not neglected; for a hand unseen,
Scattering its bounty, like a summer rain, Still keeps their graves and their remembrance green.
How came they here? What burst of Christian hate, What persecution, merciless and blind,
Drove o'er the sea - that desert desolate - These Ishmaels and Hagars of Mankind? 29
They lived in narrow streets and lanes obscure,
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Ghetto and Judenstrass,30 in mirk and mire; Taught in the school of patience to endure The life of anguish and the death of fire.
All their lives long, with the unleaven bread And bitter herbs or exile and its fears, 'The wasting famine of the heart they fed, And slaked its thirst with marah31 of their tears.
Anathema maranatha!32 was the cry That rang from town to town, from street to street; At every gate the accursed Mordecai Was mocked and jeered, and spurned by Christian feet.
Pride and humiliation hand in hand Walked with them through the world where'er they went;
'Trampled and beaten were they as the sand, And yet unshaken as the continent.
For in the background figures vague and vast Of patriarchs and prophets rose sublime, And all the great traditions of the Past They saw reflected in the coming time.
And thus forever with reverted look The mystic volume of the world they read, Spelling it backward, like a Hebrew book, Till life became a Legend of the Dead.
But ah! what once has been shall be no more! The groaning earth in travail and in pain
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Brings forth its races, but does not restore, And the dead nations never rise again.
And in 1867, Emma Lazarus wrote:
IN THE JEWISH SYNAGOGUE IN NEWPORT
Here, where the noises of the busy town,
The ocean's plunge and roar can enter not, We stand and gaze around with tearful awe, And muse upon the consecrated spot.
No signs of life are here: the very prayers Inscribed around are in a language dead; The light of the "perpetual lamp' is spent That an undying radiance was to shed.
What prayers were in this temple offered up, Wrung from sad hearts, that knew no joy on earth,
By these lone exiles of a thousand years,
From the fair sunrise land that gave them birth!
Now as we gaze, in this new world of light Upon this relic of the days of old, The present vanishes, and tropic bloom And eastern towns and temples we behold.
Again we see the patriarch with his flocks, The purple seas, the hot blue sky o'erhead,
The slaves of Egypt, - omens, mysteries, - Dark fleeing hosts by flaming angels led.
A wondrous light upon a sky-kissed mount, A man who reads the great God's written law,33
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'Midst blinding glory and effulgence rare Unto a people prone with reverent awe.
The pride of luxury's barbaric pomp, In the rich court of royal Solomon -
Alas! we wake: one scene alone remains, - The exiles by the streams of Babylon.
Our softened voices send us back again But mournful echoes through the empty hall; Our footsteps have a strange unnatural sound, And with unwonted gentleness they fall.
The weary ones, the sad, the suffering, All found their comfort in the holy place, And children's gladness and men's gratitude Took voice and mingled in the chant of praise.
The funeral and the marriage, now, alas! We know not which is sadder to recall;
For youth and happiness have followed age, And green grass lieth gently over all.
Nathless the sacred shrine is holy yet,
With its lone floors where reverent feet once trod Take off your shoes, as by the burning bush, Before the mystery of death and God.
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CHAPTER XIII RECONSECRATION
Around 1870 a new Jewish settlement was developing in Newport. The immigration of Jews from Germany began in large numbers after 1846, and the immigration from Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe was in full swing in the 1870's. The new immigrants were attracted by the large cities in the United States. A few, however, scattered to the smaller communities such as Newport.
Among the Jews who settled in Newport at this time were families that came from Germany, Russia, Austria, Roumania and Italy. Before a decade had passed, a sufficient number of Jews were in the city to make it possible once again to consider the establishment of services of the Jewish Religion. The dream, hope and vision of Abraham and Judah Touro at last began to show signs of realization.
The synagogue was in perfect condition. During the year of 1858, no less than $4.455.46, had been paid out from the Touro Synagogue Fund established with the bequest of Abraham Touro by the General Assembly in 1823, more than three quarters of this sum having been spent for the repair of the edifice.1 In October, 1866,
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RECONSECRATION
the synagogue was painted afresh.2 In 1872, gas lighting was installed in the building; and, the year after, on June 21, the Newport Gas Light Company received $218.99 from the fund for its services.3 A permanent custodian for the synagogue was employed by the City Council, who, for the meagre salary of $50 annually4 looked after the needs of the structure and grounds. The cemetery was in the care of a member of the Gould family and well provided for. A 'hand unseen' kept all in green.
The Congregation Shearith Israel in New York had become the heir to the title of the synagogue and cemetery of Newport through the absorption amongst its members the remnant of the old Jewish community of Newport. Accordingly, when the new Jewish commun- ity began to develop in the last quarter of the century and contemplated the organization of Jewish religious services and the use of the synagogue, their attention was immediately directed towards securing the friendly co-operation of the New York Congregation.
On August 17, 1881, the Board of Trustees of the Congregation Shearith Israel of New York, met to consider the affairs of the Newport synagogue and cemetery. Investigation followed, conducted by a committee consisting of Mr. Gratz Nathan and the Reverend Dr. H. Pereira Mendes, who appeared before the Town Council and Board of Aldermen of the City of Newport. This resulted in the agreement of the Newport municipal authorities, that "the petition or application of parties desiring the use of the Newport
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Synagogue be transmitted to the Board of Trustees of the Congregation Shearith Israel of New York".5 Accordingly, the several Jewish families in Newport applied to the New York Congregation for permission to use the synagogue and apply the Judah Touro Ministerial and Cemetery Fund to the expenses of the services. The Newport application was considered at the meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Congrega- tion Shearith Israel on September 18, 1881. The result in the words of the Clerk of the Congregation, was entered in the minutes :- "Whereas: A communication has been received from certain members of the Jewish persuasion at Newport, R. I. asking permission to use the Synagogue at that place for worship during ensuing holidays, to have a permanent Rabbi, and to avail of the income from the Touro Fund to meet necessary expenses, on motion of Mr. Nathan, it was unanimously Resolved that the matter be refered to our Minister, Parnas and Segan with power to make such arrange- ments as they may see fit, for supplying a Hozan to the Newport applicants for services during the ensuing holy days, but that the Board will not assent to the Touro Fund being applied for that purpose until there shall be a sufficient number of permanent residents to maintain the Services throughout the year in accordance with the principles, and form of orthodox Judaism as contemplated by the term of the will of the late Judah Touro".6
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