Touro Synagogue - Newport, RI

05/08/2026

The right topic at the right place at the right time.

05/07/2026

This Shabbat we welcome the return of the “Lewisohn Sefer Torah” to Touro Synagogue. After the scroll was torn in October 2025, it was sent to Shearith Israel in New York for repair by a scribe. It has been restored to kosher status and returned to Touro Synagogue this week.

The Lewisohn scroll has a remarkable history. In 1900, Albert Lewisohn (son of Samuel Lewisohn) married Lillie Lewisohn (daughter of Albert’s half-brother, Leonard Lewisohn) at Touro Synagogue. The wedding was noted in the contemporary press, with particular attention given to the synagogue’s floral decorations.

In honor of the occasion, Leonard Lewisohn, father of the bride, donated a Sefer Torah to the synagogue.

The Torah was written by Reverend Abraham Haim Nieto, hazzan of New York's Congregation Shearith Israel and an accomplished sofer. Nieto wrote several other Torah scrolls, including two for Shearith Israel in New York, and another for Congregation Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia. His scrolls are notable for their beautiful Western Sephardic script and for their unusually thin, lightweight parchment.

The Lewisohn scroll remained in regular use until October 2025, when part of the parchment tore and required repair. The restoration was recently completed, and this Shabbat the Lewisohn Sefer Torah will once again be read at Touro Synagogue for an upcoming bar mitzvah celebration.

There is something especially meaningful about seeing a Torah scroll—written more than a century ago by a hazzan of Shearith Israel, donated for a wedding celebration in Touro Synagogue in 1900, and used continuously across generations—still alive and serving the community today.

03/19/2026

We are delighted to welcome the participants of the Sephardic High School Shabbaton to Touro Synagogue this Shabbat. Where they will experience the rich history of the earliest Jewish community in America.

Wishing everyone a meaningful and inspiring Shabbat!

The Sephardic Jewish Brotherhood of America

03/06/2026

𝐓𝐡𝐞 “𝐖𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐡”: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐨’𝐬 𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐦 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥:

The Megillah of Esther read over Purim at Touro Synagogue carries with it an unusual history. The scroll, written in an elegant nineteenth-century Ashkenazic hand and preserved in an olive-wood case from the Holy Land, was presented in the late 1880s by Alfred A. Marcus of Boston.

Marcus left a small but remarkable legacy at Touro Synagogue. The Megillah’s case bears a dedication commemorating members of Marcus’s family. Around the same time he also donated several other ritual items connected with the synagogue, including a Sefer Torah, an exquisite Omer board, and a silver breastplate set with twelve stones representing the tribes of Israel. These items, still preserved at Touro Synagogue, were donated in memory of his wife, Kate (Belasco) Marcus, who died in Boston in 1887.

Marcus was a South African–born diamond merchant who settled in Boston in the 1860s and became known for extraordinary generosity. During the 1880s he donated Torah scrolls and synagogue ornaments to Jewish communities around the world.

In addition to Touro Synagogue, Congregation Shearith Israel in New York was also a recipient of his generosity, receiving a Torah scroll in 1880 and later a Torah pointer and a Megillat Esther with a case almost identical to the one given to Touro Synagogue.

When Kate Marcus passed away, Alfred installed a telephone in both his home and his synagogue so that his daughter could recite Kaddish daily for her mother. This was in 1888—one of the first telephones installed in Boston—and it was done so that his daughter could recite Kaddish. Quite remarkable indeed.

Unfortunately, the story of Alfred A. Marcus—once one of the wealthiest and most generous Jews in the United States—ends sadly. After his wife’s passing, his business ventures failed, though his generosity did not. His children all predeceased him, and he died a pauper in 1903.

Although Marcus’s fortune disappeared, his gifts endure—continuing to support the observance of Jewish ritual more than a century later. Each time this Megillah is read, it quietly recalls the story of a benefactor whose generosity reached far beyond his own community.

In loving memory of an almost forgotten philanthropist: Alfred A. Marcus — אברהם בן שמחה לבית מרקוס בבוסטון.

02/18/2026

Naphtaly Hart Myers (1711–1788)

Every single month at Congregation Shearith Israel - The Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue, the name of Naphtaly Hart Myers is recited among those memorialized in the congregation’s list of Perpetual Hashkabot. His memorial date is recorded as the second day of Rosh Ḥodesh Adar — today on the Hebrew calendar.

Naphtaly Hart Myers arrived in New York from London around 1740 as a young merchant. He quickly integrated into the Jewish elite of colonial New York, appearing in the famous letters of Abigail Franks and moving comfortably among the leading families of his time.

He built a thriving mercantile career that connected London, New York, Philadelphia, and Newport. He conducted business with Aaron Lopez of Newport (among many others) and even purchased prayer books in London that were likely intended for use by the Jewish community of Newport.

His generosity left a physical mark on our sacred spaces. Myers donated five brass chandeliers to Shearith Israel’s Mill Street Synagogue. He also donated a brass lamp to the Touro Synagogue — where it still hangs today.

But his philanthropy extended beyond synagogue walls.

Myers was also a donor to the Redwood Library and Athenæum in Newport, one of America’s oldest libraries. A copy of Mateh Dan by Ḥaham David Nieto, donated by Myers, is still preserved there.

In Shearith Israel’s Hashcabah book, Myers is given the title “haRab — Ribbi.” He was probably not formally ordained, yet he consistently appears among the synagogue’s “Elders,” who handled halachic and judicial matters. He served as a member of the Bet Din — a religious authority — within the congregation.

After 1764, Myers returned permanently to London, where he became a manager of the Great Synagogue London . He died there in 1788.

Yet centuries later, his name is still recited each month at Shearith Israel in New York.

Naphtaly Hart Myers represents the transatlantic Jewish world of the 18th century — a world in which London, Newport, and New York were deeply connected; where merchants built synagogues and libraries; and where lay leaders sometimes served as religious authorities.

So on this day, we remember Naphtaly Hart Myers —

הרב הישיש הגביר הנכבד רבי נפתלי בר יוסף

02/11/2026

Come experience history at Touro Synagogue in Newport — the oldest standing synagogue in the United States.

🏛️ To learn about guided tours of the synagogue:
https://www.thetourosynagogue.org/visit-touro-synagogue/

Whether you’re a local resident, visiting Newport, or exploring Jewish heritage, you are warmly welcome to join us for Shabbat prayers in a setting filled with American and Jewish history, faith, and continuity.

🕯️ For service times and information about Shabbat meals while visiting:
https://www.thetourosynagogue.org/prayer-service-schedule/

We look forward to welcoming you.

12/30/2025

🔔 To our page followers: We have created a NEW page to reflect our organization’s new name, "TSF Newport" Please continue to follow us at: https://www.facebook.com/TSFNewportRI
We hope with this rebrand to build excitement for fresh content as we move into the new year. Education remains the cornerstone of our mission. By focusing on education, we hope students of all ages will learn about the richness of this country’s past regarding First Amendment rights, thereby encouraging dialogue and understanding across diverse backgrounds and faiths. Stay tuned as we add information on how to learn about upcoming programming, tours, events, and more.
➡️Our website address has now changed to: https://tsfnewport.org/ (previously "TouroSynagogue.org). Same great content at a new address.

12/14/2025

Happy Hanukkah! Wishing everyone Peace, Hope, and Light this holiday season.

( Image by: Freepik)

11/26/2025

Touro Synagogue Foundation announces the third event of its 2025 public program series, to be presented via Zoom on Thursday, December 4, at 6:30 pm ET. No fee, but reservations are required to receive the Zoom login information.

Guest speaker, distinguished scholar, Dr. Paul Finklemen, will give a talk title “An American Irony: Parallel History of Jews and African Americans in the context of the Revolution.” The talk will be moderated by Rhode Island's Historian Laureate, Keith Stokes.

💻 To RESERVE and for the talk overview and recordings of past programs, please visit our webpage: https://tourosynagogue.org/touro-synagogue-foundation/programs-and-events/ or use this direct link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Ymzprwx6RYy59AC2pWC54Q #/registration

09/22/2025

🍎Wishing everyone peace, happiness & good health in the new year!🐝

07/25/2025

Introducing our new blog!
Click "Inside View" on the Touro Synagogue Foundation website to discover history tidbits about Newport's Colonial Jewish community and more. Today, we're sharing what's known about the existence of a mikvah in Newport in the 1700s. Check out the story below.

Note: a mikvah is a Jewish ritual bath. Learn more here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikveh

Sorry, that was just a teaser; we are no closer to determining if Newport had a mikvah (Jewish ritual bath) in colonial times, but here is what we know. Sephardic Jews built mikvot throughout the Atlantic world in the 1600s and 1700s. Archaeological remains, reconstructions, and several surviving mi...