Photo by Neala Schwartzberg
On a narrow, quiet street in the middle of the colonial district of Newport Rhode Island, there sits a building with history. It's a tidy looking classical building sitting a bit askew on the small piece of land. The Touro Synagogue has been standing on Touro Street since 1658. It is the oldest synagogue in the United States, and listed as a National Historic Site in 1946. But the story and the real significance goes back much further. It's the story of religious tolerance born out of intolerance. Of a principle pledged by a revolutionary government in the person of George Washington.
When the Revolutionary War ended, the Jewish community of Newport was concerned. Would they still have the religious freedom that allowed them to flourish?
In 1790 Moses Seixas, warden of the synagogue of the congregation wrote to George Washington, asking him the intentions of the fledgling government.
Washington's reply was quick and clear, "...The Citizens of the United States have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy: a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent national gifts."
Clearly there would be religious freedom not because the powerful allowed the less powerful that gift, but because it was a right of citizenship, available to all. He affirmed that this country would become a religious haven for all people.
And then he went even further. The new government would actively protect their rights. He writes "...while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid."
Then, and now, it remains one of this countries greatest strengths, and most remarkable policies, breaking free of the restraints of religious intolerance that had marked so much of history.
The letter, written a year before the Bill of Rights was ratified, is on display at the Touro synagogue. It was the first time a statement of religious freedom for everyone had been so clearly asserted.
Today, the Touro Synagogue still flourishes. Tour the historic synagogue, visit the cemetery, and learn more about religious freedom.
Read more about Touro Synagogue in Newport Rhode Island
Visit the Touro Synagogue website
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