First Synagogue in Unites States

 First Jewish Synagogue Was Dedicated in the United States
December 2, 1763

Many settlers traveled to the American colonies for freedom of worship. Quakers, Puritans, Jews, and people of other faiths arrived to create communities in what would become the United States. On December 2, 1763, members of the Jewish community of Newport, Rhode Island, witnessed the dedication of the Touro Synagogue, the first synagogue in the American colonies. The synagogue was named for Isaac Touro, its first officiating rabbi. Touro became the center of a thriving Jewish community.

The Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, photographed in 1971 

Organized Jewish community life in Newport dates to 1658, when 15 families arrived from overseas to establish a congregation in the growing seaport. For more than 100 years, the community relied on correspondence with rabbis in Europe to sustain their religious traditions in the New World. As a commercial center, Newport thrived, with merchants active in the sea trade.

An 1878 map of Newport Rhode Island

Many famous people have visited Newport over the years. In 1790, the Hebrew congregation of Newport welcomed George Washington to their city. A hundred years later, Newport was welcoming wealthy vacationers to its shores. It became a favorite holiday spot for the rich, with its temperate climate and scenic views. The town is filled with "cottages" such as The Breakers, built for the wealthy Cornelius Vanderbilt. You can still visit lovely Newport and the Touro Synagogue today.

The Breakers is the Vanderbilt "cottage" in Newport, Rhode Island

 

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/colonial/jb_colonial_jewish_1.html

Read more »

Colonial Mikveh in Venezuela

Rare colonial-era Mikveh unearthed in Venezuela

Venezuela to preserve one-of-a-kind Jewish ritual bath and open site to visitors. 

By Shlomo Papirblat | Dec. 17, 2013 | 4:18 AM

Archaeologists in Venezuela have unearthed a old mikveh dating back to the 18th century. The colonial-era Jewish ritual bath was discovered under the foundations of an art museum during renovation work. 

A Venezuelan press agency released an announcement by the Ministry of Culture, stating that archaeologists in Falcon State found “a structure in which adherents of the Jewish faith ceremoniously used to immerse themselves."

The mikveh was found in the city of Santa Ana de Coro on the country's Caribbean coast. Founded in 1527, Coro is one of the country’s oldest cities. Anthropologist Carlos Alberto Martin said that “excavations were started recently in a house which was built in 1772 and later purchased by a Jewish family named Senor.” 

Records from the period show that David Abraham Senor was a Jewish merchant of Spanish origins, who settled in Coro after arriving there from the island of Curacao. Some believe he was a descendant of the convert Abraham Senor, treasurer to the Catholic Queen Isabella of Spain who expelled all Jews from the country in 1492. Some members of his families were conversos or marranos, who secretly continued practising Judaism. 

“We checked with people in the Jewish community in Caracas," Martin said, “and from what we understand this is the only old mikveh of its kind to be discovered in South America.” He added that there were 3 constructed layers, with a 5-centimeter gap between them, making up a conduit system that brought in rain from the roof without help of people and without any seepage through the ground. The mikveh was dug into the ground of the building’s cellar, with narrow steps leading to it. Over the years it became covered soil. The staircase got blocked and the mikveh was eventually forgotten. 

The house originally belonging to the Senor family is a today an art museum. When an old structure was discovered during recent renovation work, archaeologists were summoned. The city’s old synagogue from the 19th century, known as one of the oldest on the continent, stands next to the museum. The Venezuelan government renovated the synagogue 15 years ago, turning it into a cultural heritage site with the label “Hebrew prayer house.” Now the Venezuelan Culture Ministry is planning to preserve the mikveh as well and open it to visitors.

  www.haaretz.com

Read more »