Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, was built from 1759 to 1763 for the Jeshuat Israel congregation under Rabbi Isaac Touro and is the oldest synagogue building still standing in the United States and North America. Designed by Peter Harrison, it reflects Sephardic Jewish traditions and colonial craftsmanship in a symbolic interior oriented toward Jerusalem. The synagogue is closely linked to American religious liberty through George Washington’s 1790 reply to Moses Seixas, declaring that the new government gave “to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.” Despite periods of disruption, reopening, restoration, and legal disputes, it remains an active Orthodox synagogue and a powerful survivor of colonial Jewish life.

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Newport, Rhode Island · USA