USA > Rhode Island > Newport County > Newport > Touro Synagogue of Congregation Jeshuat Israel, Newport, Rhode Island > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6
Over one of the graves grows a weeping willow, from a slip taken from the tree over Napoleon's grave at St. Helena; at two removes; - the grand-child of that willow.
Of this famous philanthropist, Judah Touro, who had moved from Newport to New Orleans, Longfellow had heard from his sister, Mrs. Mary Longfellow Greenleaf, who was living at that time in New Orleans. Some ten years before this visit of Longfellow to Newport, Mr. Touro had surrounded the old Jewish Cemetery with a wall and a massive granite entrance, carved with a winged globe on the entablature and inverted torches on the two side posts. Two years after Longfellow's visit, Judah Touro died and his memorial was placed with those of the other members of that dis- tinguished family inside the Touro enclosure. He left a bequest to the city of Newport for the purchase and preservation of the Old Round Tower, about which Longfellow had written his poem, "The Skeleton in Armor"; and the Park around the Tower came to be called Touro Park.
Some of the Portuguese Jews, whose tombs Longfellow mentions, had fled early in the eighteenth century from the Inqui- sition in Portgual. Others had left after the terrible earthquake at Lisbon in 1755. All had sought shelter in Newport and had become distinguished citizens there, some of them helping to found the famous Redwood Library in 1747.
Someone has described these Jews from Spain and Portugal, buried there in Newport, as "dignified hidalgos bearing such sun- warmed names". Longfellow as a Professor of Romance Litera- ture was familiar with these Spanish and Portuguese last names and was struck by finding them conjoined with the Hebrew first names familiar to him from the Bible. He summed this up in his poem with a stanza which in the first draft read:
[ 37 ]
The names upon their monuments are strange, Of foreign accent and of different climes, Alvares and Rivera interchange With Abraham and Jacob of old times.
Professor Longfellow could of course readily read the inscriptions in Spanish and Portuguese and noticed that at the foot of many of the tomb-stones were inscribed the initials "S.A.G.D.G." stand- ing for "Su Alma Goze Divina Gloria", which may be translated as "May His Soul Enjoy Divine Glory."
Not as familiar with Hebrew as he was with Spanish and Portuguese, Mr. Longfellow at first took the Hebrew word which he saw on the top of so many of the stones to be the Tetragram- maton, the mysterious four-lettered ineffable name of God. Accord- ingly in his first draft he included the following stanza:
And with them mingles the forgotten name That Moses bore engraven on his rod, The four great letters now no longer heard, The sacred sound, the shuddering name of God.
This stanza was repeated with a somewhat different wording in his second draft. Later, however, he came to realize that these four letters were merely the Hebrew word for monument - matsevah. Accordingly he omitted this stanza from the two later manuscript versions and from the printed text. In his Journal for July 28, 1852, he speaks of meeting a "Dr. Dunn who told me all the old lore of Newport"; and no doubt he and many others gave Long- fellow further information.
Descending Touro Street, which he describes in his Journal as "a very pretty street, with over-shadowing trees", he came upon the beautiful old Synagogue which had been designed by the English architect, Peter Harrison, nearly a century earlier. At the time of Longfellow's visit it had been closed for several years and was now itself as silent as the Cemetery. To this he now devoted the follow- ing stanza of his poem which read, in the first draft:
[ 38 ]
And near them stands the vacant Synagogue; But prayers and psalms no more its silence break, Nor Rabbi reads the ancient Decalogue In the grand dialect that Moses spake.
Behind the associations of both Cemetery and Synagogue, Longfellow seemed to see looming the great misty figures of ancient Israel. In his first draft he wrote:
But in the background, figures vague and vast Of Patriarchs and Prophets rose sublime;
They had the grand Traditions of the Past, They had the Promise of the Coming Time.
In the second and third versions of his manuscript Longfellow added a stanza which he later omitted, depicting the Jews as glimps- ing the Promised Land, like Moses, only in the hour of death:
Ah, long they wandered over land and wave, The world around them but a waste of sand;
And only from the hillock of the grave, With dying eyes beheld the Promised Land.
At this point, Longfellow's original poem probably ended; but in his first two drafts of the poem he planned at first to con- tinue by describing himself as leaving the old Cemetery behind him and wandering forth into the sunset:
Thus musing on the graves beneath my feet I saw the sun set over roof and tree,
And wandering forth along the busy street Beheld the distant glimmer of the sea.
Some nineteen days after his first visit to the Cemetery, in his Journal for July 22, 1852, Longfellow had written: "Splendid sunsets have we here in Newport. A few days ago I saw a fine effect; a windmill in motion right against the glowing West, with the round, red sun sinking slowly."
In the second draft of his poem, Longfellow attempted to add this impression of the windmill swinging its arms against the sunset:
[ 39 ]
And opposite, athwart the evening glare, A windmill, whirling its broad wings of white; An emblem of the Angel of Despair Whose sword turns every way its whirls of light.
In some way Longfellow seemed to see here a menace to the Jewish people and in his first draft he wrote:
A sword still bars the gate of rest and peace; A foot still breaks and grinds them like the grain! A voice still speaks the doom, that ne'er shall cease; A hand still points to the deep mark of Cain!
In his second draft, Longfellow then made his protest against so bitter and so unjust a fate for so great a people as the Jews:
Is there no hope? no end of all their wrongs? No rest - no Truce of God to intervene,
For those who gave the world its noblest songs, The only perfect man this world hath seen?
Here in Rhode Island, Roger Williams had established reli- gious liberty for all mankind, saying: "I desire not that liberty for myself, which I would not freely and impartially weigh out to all the consciences of the world beside." Here, then, in Newport, the Jews, who had been driven from other countries, had found a haven of refuge. Remembering this Longfellow had added the following stanza:
But here at length the Truce of God prevailed; The oppression and the contumely ceased, No more were they molested, nor assailed By royal tax or malison of priest!
All these later stanzas, however, which Longfellow had added in his second draft, were omitted from the third and fourth ver- sions and from the final text.
On leaving Newport in the autumn of 1852 and returning to Cambridge, the thought of those old Jewish tombs still haunted the poet. The first part of his manuscript bears the date "Novem- ber 6, 1852"; and in his journal for the next day, November 7,
.*
[ 40 ]
1852, he wrote: "In the evening finished some lines on 'The Jewish Burying Ground in Newport.'"
Longfellow's sympathy for the suffering of the Jews was mingled with his sympathy for the sufferings of the Negro slaves. He had already written his Poems on Slavery and at this very time was deeply stirred by the struggle to free the Negroes that cul- minated a few years later in the Civil War. In a poem, published in 1853, dealing with another cemetery and called "In the Churchyard at Cambridge", he spoke of the Negro slaves said to have been buried at the head and foot of a Tory lady of Colonial days, and added: "Their dust is white as hers." The last part of Longfellow's manuscript on "The Jewish Cemetery at Newport" bears the date "May 30, 1854." In his Journal for that same day, referring to the injustices against the Negroes, he wrote: "We will submit to this no longer, come what may."
Shortly after this the poem was published in Putnam's Monthly Magazine for July 1854. Longfellow did not print it in book form until 1858, when he included it in "Birds of Passage. Flight the First." It was one of the poems over which Longfellow had labored longest in revision. During the century since it was written it has held its own, and in an anthology published in 1948 and entitled One Hundred American Poems, the only Longfellow selection included is "The Jewish Cemetery at Newport."
[ 41 ]
TOURO SYNAGOGUE AS A NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE BY THOMAS J. ALLEN Regional Director, National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior
OURO SYNAGOGUE is the fourth church edifice to be designated as a national historic site, not federally owned. Those which preceded it, in their order of estab- lishment, are as follows: San Jose Mission, near San Antonio, Texas, June 1941; Gloria Dei (Old Swedes' Church), in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 1942; and Saint Paul's Church, Eastchester, New York, July 1943. San Jose is Roman Catholic, Gloria Dei was originally Lutheran but is now Protes- tant Episcopal, and Saint Paul's is Protestant Episcopal. The pres- ent Gloria Dei church dates from 1700; the Saint Paul's church dates from 1774; and San Jose Mission was established in 1720. Thus Touro Synagogue becomes the fourth national historic site of a religious character to possess a structure dating from the eight- eenth century. It should be mentioned also that the ruins of the old church tower at Jamestown Island, now owned by the Asso- ciation for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, is on that part of Jamestown Island not owned by the Federal government, which was declared a national historic site in December 1940.
Within the national park system of areas owned and admin- istered by the Federal government there are several that derive importance primarily from their religious character and the part they played in our nation's history. Tumacacori National Monu- ment in Arizona is associated with the early days of the Spanish mission frontier in the Southwest. It contains surviving mission structures built about 1820 to replace earlier buildings of the mission which was established by Kino in 1691. Whitman Na-
[ 42 ]
NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE TOURO SYNAGOGUE OF JESHUAT ISRAEL CONGREGATION FOUNDED 1658
THIS OLDEST SYNAGOGUE BUILDING IN THE UNITED STATES WAS DESIGNED BY PETER HARRISON, GROUND WAS BROKEN AUGUST 1, 1759. IT WAS DEDICATED ON DECEMBER 2,1763. HERE 1781-84 THE RHODE ISLAND GENERAL ASSEMBLY MET, AND DURING WASHINGTON'S VISIT TO NEWPORT IN 1781 A TOWN MEETING WAS HELD HERE. THE STATE SUPREME COURT HELD SESSIONS HERE AT THAT PERIOD, THE BUILDING WAS REOPENED FOR RELIGIOUS SERVICES ON AUGUST 2,1850. IN 1790 GEORGE WASHINGTON WROTE TO THIS CONGREGATION THAT. . . "HAPPILY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES ... . GIVES TO BIGOTRY NO SANCTION, TO PERSECUTION NO ASSISTANCE"
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Tablet affixed to the south wall of Touro Synagogue, unveiled August 31, 1947 during dedicatory exercises.
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
August 19, 1947
Dear Dr. Friedman:
I am happy to congratulate Congregation Jeshuat Israel and the community of Newport, Rhode Island on the setting apart of the Touro Synagogue as a national shrine. It is fortunate that the venerable fabric of the Synagogue opened on December 2, 1763, a century after the founding of the Congregation, is still in use and admired by all lovers of good architecture.
The setting apart of this historic shrine as a national monument is symbolic of our tradition of freedom which has inspired men and women of every creed, race and ancestry to contribute their highest gifts to the development of our national culture. I trust through long centuries to come that the spirit of good will and tolerance will ever dominate the hearts and minds of the American people.
Very sincerely yours
Dr. Bernard C. Friedman, President, Congregation Jeshuat Israel, 2 Ayrault Street, Newport, Rhode Island.
Facsimile of letter from President Harry S. Truman to Dr. Bernard C. Friedman, President of Congregation Jeshuat Israel, on the dedication of the Touro Synagogue as a national historic site.
tional Monument near Walla Walla, Washington, when developed will tell the story of medical missionary work in the western wild- erness among the American Indians.
Touro Synagogue, San Jose, Gloria Dei, and Saint Paul's national historic sites were established under authority of the His- toric Sites Act of August 12, 1935. This broad and basic law declares "that it is a national policy to preserve for public use historic sites, buildings and objects of national significance for the inspiration and benefit of the people of the United States," and specifically authorizes the Federal government to enter into coop- erative agreements with various bodies including "religious insti- tutions" to accomplish desired historical conservation. It was under the terms of this Act that Touro Synagogue was established as a national historic site, and dedicated as such August 13, 1947.
In accordance with the cooperative agreement entered into with the United States, the Shearith Israel Trustees and the Con- gregation Jeshuat Israel agreed:
"That they will preserve, protect, maintain, and when necessary, restore, so far as lies within their power, the Touro Synagogue, Newport, Rhode Island, and the grounds immediately about the Synagogue building."
The Secretary of the Interior agreed, on behalf of the United States of America:
"To cooperate with the Shearith Israel Trustees and Congregation Jeshuat Israel in the preservation, pro- tection, restoration, and the use of the property designa- ted as a national historic site, and to provide technical assistance in planning and executing measures for such preservation, protection and restoration, within the limits of available funds."
In the development and interpretation of historical areas, the National Park Service emphasizes preservation rather than res- toration or reconstruction. This is in keeping with the precept that it is "Better to preserve than repair, better to repair than restore, and better to restore than to reconstruct."
[ 43 ]
ADDRESS
DELIVERED BY DOCTOR CORNELIUS C. MOORE OF NEWPORT AT TOURO SYNAGOGUE ON SEPTEMBER 15, 1963 AT THE BI-CENTENNIAL OBSERVANCE OF THE DEDICATION OF TOURO SYNAGOGUE
R. CHAIRMAN, Rabbi Lewis, Reverend Katz and Clergy, Senators Javits and Pell, Mr. Wilkinson Representing Mayor Hambly, Mr. Slom, Chairman, Bi-Centennial Committee Mr. Friedman, President, Congregation Jeshuat Israel, Judge Teitz, President, Society of Friends of Touro Synagogue, members of the Congregation Jeshuat Israel, Members of the Society of Friends of Touro Synagogue, and Friends.
As I entered this remarkable edifice I stopped to read the plaque marking it as a National Historic Site and I was reminded that here in seventeen hundred and eighty nine the first session of the General Assembly was held after the British had evacuted Newport. Here the superior court of Rhode Island convened after the evacuation and dispensed Justice. Here, too, a town meeting was held. To me it seems most appropriate that such bodies should have assembled in this Synagogue, especially when we consider the history of the institution known as the Synagogue. The Synagogue replaced the tabernacle in the wilderness and the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Its function originally was to serve, as its Hebrew term, Beth Hakenesset, implies, a meeting house for religious purposes. But as Jews were dispersed more widely over the world following the destruction of the temple and after the Babylonian exile, the Synagogue was used also as a Court of Law and as a place of study, and became not only the religious but the intellectual and social center of Jewish life.
Others more capable than I will discuss more fully and more knowledgeably the significance of this edifice but in thinking of Rabbi Isaac Touro and his co-religionists in the trying period of our
[ 44 ]
colonial and national life when they lived and worked for the colony and our nation, I am reminded of the lines of Ecclesiasticus: .
"Let us now praise famous men and our fathers that begot us"
and
"They were honored in their Generations and with the glory of their times"
truly, these were remarkable men and we should pay them tribute on this Bi-Centennial observance of the dedication of Touro Syna- gogue. It has been said that:
"The great benefactors of the race have been men who caused each generation to re-discover for itself the great fundamental truths that constitute the life blood of every civilization."
Touro and his associates were such men because they knew, as Woodrow Wilson was to observe at a much later date, that
"Our civilization cannot survive materially Unless it is redeemed spiritually"
and they reared here in our beloved Newport a house of worship.
And it was of such men that Longfellow, after his visit to the Jewish Cemetery located near by, and his wandering about the cemetery reading the inscriptions on the monuments, wrote:
Pride and humiliation hand in hand Walked with them through the world, where ere 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 common time.
These noble men derived comfort, yes, and happiness when they read the provision in the charter granted by King Charles, II, to the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, upon the petition of John Clarke, the noted Baptist Divine and Physician,
[ 45 ]
who left the shores of Aquidneck Isle to petition the King, and after years of labor and persuasion the king in July sixteen hundred sixty- three granted the charter to the colony which contained this notable and comforting declaration:
That no person within the said colony, at any time hereafter shall be anywise molested, punished, disquieted or called in question for any differences in opinion in matters of Religion, and do not actually disturb the civil peace of our said Colony; but that all and every person and persons may from time to time, and at all times hereafter, freely and fully have and enjoy his and their own judgments and consciences in matters of Religious concernments through- out the . .. Colony."
And in the code of laws governing the Colony enacted after the grant of Charter we read:
"All men may walk as their consciences Persuade them, everyone in the name of his God".
After the erection, and the dedication of the Synagogue in seventeen hundred and sixty three, their happiness was enhanced as they heard the profound declaration of this New World pronounced from the balcony of the Colony House which established then and for all time this fundamental truth of our nation.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, and they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed ... "
And today, conditions exist, and it is indeed sad that they do exist, we find our distinguished guests, Senators Javits and Pell, devoting their intelligence and energy to make certain that this fundamental truth of our nation is passed on to future generations unsullied, untarnished and unspoiled.
[ 46 ]
May today be a time of rejoicing, and it seems to me that it should be a time of rededication - A rededication of those principles which animated Isaac Touro and the early Jews of this community. They erected this Synagogue and they made possible this occasion, and undoubtedly they were aware of the line in Proverbs which says:
"Where there is no vision the people perish."
they had vision, the vision of a new world in which there would be freedom of speech and freedom of worship.
And minorities in our country in our time are fighting for all the rights for which they are, under Law and God, entitled; when new nations all over the world are fighting to preserve newly won independence, when other people are seeking that independence, today we must rededicate to ourselves that vision of Touro and his followers; what better time to do it and what better place than here within these hallowed walls before the Ark of God and the Law of Moses.
[ 47 ]
THE RESTORATION OF TOURO SYNAGOGUE NEWPORT, R. I. BY THEODORE LEWIS Rabbi - Touro Synagogue
HE TOURO SYNAGOGUE dedicated in 1763, is the oldest Synagogue building in the United States and is a splendid example of the architectural genius of Peter Harrison, one of the outstanding architects of the colonial period of American history. It is also famous for its historical associations and for the contribution of those who worshipped there, to the development of early America. It is for these reasons and because of its national historical significance, that the United States Government designated it as a National Historic Site in 1946.
As a result of this designation thousands of people from all parts of America and from foreign countries flocked to Newport, to see this precious colonial architectural jewel for themselves. It soon became apparent that the handling of such a great number of visitors, the answering of hundreds of requests for literature and information would impose a greater financial obligation on the small Jewish Community in Newport than it could bear. It was prepared to assume all its obligations in respect to its functioning as an active Congregation but it could not assume, without assistance, the new financial responsibilities that devolved upon it with the designation of Touro Synagogue as a National Historic Site. It should be pointed out, that the designation of Touro Synagogue as a National Historic Site does not carry with it any government appropriation of funds.
The Society of Friends of Touro Synagogue was accordingly organized in 1948. Its function and purpose is outlined as follows in its Constitution:
[ 48 ]
(a) To assist in the maintenance and upkeep of buildings, grounds, personnel, in keeping with the Touro Synagogue, and to maintain the premises in their character as a National Historic Site in accordance with the designation of the United States Department of the Interior, dated March 5, 1946.
(b) To provide for raising and allocating funds for the printing of articles, booklets and material on Touro Synagogue to be made available to visitors, history classes, pilgrimages, and for dissemination generally.
(c) In connection with the Annual Observance of the Historic Site, to commemorate each year, on or about August 19th, the pro- nouncement by George Washington on religious liberty in his letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, August 19, 1790.
(d) To receive manuscripts, relics, pictures and other articles of interest to further the objectives of the corporation for preserva- tion, information and use of the public.
(e) To acquire by purchase, gift, grant, devise or bequest, real or personal property and to hold in fee or upon such lawful trusts as may be agreed upon between the donors thereof and said corporation, and to improve the same.
To do any and all other things which may be consistent (f) with the above sections, including the establishment of such rules for the proper protection thereof as said corporation may prescribe.
Dr. Bernard C. Friedman was the president of the Society of Friends from its inception until 1962, when he was elected President Emeritus. Since 1962, Judge Alexander G. Teitz has been President.
The Society of Friends of Touro Synagogue is a non-sectarian autonomous body and functions independently of, though in co- operation with, Congregation Jeshuat Israel, Touro Synagogue. Since the organization of the Society of Friends the following have been presidents of the Congregation, Dr. Bernard C. Friedman, Dr. Isadore G. Schaffer, Robert G. Mirman, John J. Dannin, Judge Alexander G. Teitz, Abe G. Smith, Albert L. Greenberg, Esq., Samuel Friedman and Aaron Slom. They extended full cooperation
[ 49 ]
to the Society of Friends on behalf of Congregation Jeshuat Israel towards the implementation of the Restoration Program.
In order to accommodate the steadily increasing number of tourists who were interested in visiting Touro Synagogue, the Society of Friends arranged for guides to be present at the Synagogue, everyday, except Saturday, during the summer, and on Sundays, during the rest of the year. The visitors are taken on a tour of the Synagogue and the historical background of the Synagogue is out- lined for them in an informative talk by specially trained and indoctrinated guides. The guide program is under the supervision of Rev. Ely Katz, Cantor of Touro Synagogue.
In 1954, the Society of Friends of Touro Synagogue established a Restoration Committee to undertake the restoration, preservation and the refurbishing of the historic edifice. Many outstanding indivi- duals who had distinguished themselves in the business world and in public service served on this committee under the chairmanship of William Zeckendorf, New York. Dewey D. Stone of Brockton, Massachusetts and Lawrence A. Wien of New York served as associ- ate chairmen. The prominent architects of national reputation, Max Abramovitz, Ely Jacques Kahn, and Percival Goodman served on the committee as did Lou R. Crandall, president of the George A. Fuller Co., William J. Levitt of Levittown, and Carleton H. Palmer. Before embarking on the physical restoration of the Synagogue the committee completed basic historical and structural research to deter- mine the nature and scope of the work required. As the Touro Synagogue is a unique symbol of the participation of Jews in the historic development of the United States, it was important to achieve a high level of meticulous restoration such as characterizes other historic sites which are the common heritage of all Americans.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.