Trudging up the steep hill to the famous Touro Synagogue, we traced our religious connection with the first Jews in America. For us, Newport, Rhode Island, was a destination; by contrast, for many fellow passengers on our cruise ship it was one more port-of-call on a Montreal-to-New York cruise last October.

While most Newport tourists visit the "summer cottages" of the rich and famous, the eighteenth-century Touro Synagogue, known as Congregation Jeshuat Israel, is a draw, especially for Jews. The history of Jewish settlement in the New World dates back earlier, with the establishment of Temple Mikve Israel-Emanuel in Willemstad, Curacao, the oldest synagogue in the Western Hemisphere. There is also the synagogue in Barbados, said to be the second oldest. And the Hebrew Congregation of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, is notable as the oldest temple in continuous use under the U.S. flag. But Touro Synagogue is the oldest American synagogue still standing at its original location, and is a National Historic Site.

This interior view shows the bimah, along with the columns supporting the women's gallery and the domed ceiling, where brass candelabra hang. The Holy Ark contains a Torah scroll over 500 years old, and an Eternal Light burns continuously in front.

Upon arriving in the morning at the synagogue, we learned at the temple office across the street that a tour was scheduled for two o'clock. So we returned later in the day to join the tour, guided by Bea Ross, of the Society of Friends of Touro Synagogue. She related the temple's religious history and significance to some thirty people.

In a climate of social and religious acceptance, fifteen families from Spain and Portugal formed a congregation in Newport circa 1658, worshiping in private homes or rented buildings. With the arrival of Ashkenazim as well as additional Sephardim during the next century, the congregation grew, creating the need for a formal synagogue.

Financial help came from other congregations, and Peter Harrison, dean of colonial American architects, was commissioned to design the synagogue. In 1759, the cornerstone of the small synagogue was laid, with Reverend Isaac Touro conducting the service. As Newport's Jewish community flourished, the name Yeshuat Israel — Salvation of Israel — was chosen in a spirit of optimism.

The synagogue was built in a restrained style. It featured English red brick, and was constructed in a sharp angle to the street, so that the Holy Ark faced east.

The inside is lofty, with twelve Ionic columns of solid tree trunks, representing the tribes of Israel, supporting the women's gallery. Twelve Corinthian and Ionic columns brace the domed ceiling, where five massive brass candelabra hang.

Touro Synagogue is the oldest American shul still standing at its original location, and is a National Historic site.

The bimah in the center has a trapdoor to a basement room. The trapdoor had served a life-saving function in Inquisitional Spain. These were built in houses where religious services were held; when congregants sensed danger, they would descend into the cellar. Even after escaping the Inquisition, Sephardic Jews continued to design their synagogues with a trapdoor. During the Civil War, the trapdoor was used as a hiding place for the Underground Railroad. Reflecting the colonial look, the carpet and interior woodwork are pale gray, the walls are an off-white lime wash, and the Windsor chairs and settees are black.

Lending a sense of beauty, the Holy Ark at the east end of the room contains a 500-year-old Torah scroll, and an Eternal Light burns in front. Above the Ark is a painting of the Ten Commandments by Newport artist Benjamin Howland, dating back to 1828.

Following a visit to Newport in 1790, President George Washington wrote to the congregation that the Government of the United States gives ". . . bigotry no sanction . . . persecution no assistance . . ." (words actually appropriated from an earlier letter sent by Newport community leader Moses Seixas to the President).

Thanks to the descendants of Reverend Touro, the Touro Jewish Synagogue Fund was established for the shul's care and preservation, giving rise to the name Touro Synagogue. The synagogue was designated a National Historic Site in 1946; since then, the dignitaries who have visited include President Eisenhower, Robert Frost, Dean Acheson, and Abba Eban. In 1982, the United States Postal Service issued a twenty-cent commemorative postage stamp in honor of Touro Synagogue.

Today 109 Sephardic and Ashkenazic families are affiliated, and the synagogue continues to maintain the Orthodox Sephardic traditions. The beautiful legacy that is Touro Synagogue is not only a monument to religious freedom and an early American heirloom, but is a living, practicing house of prayer for the Newport Jewish community.

Touro Synagogue is open for tours daily, except for Shabbos and yom tov. Tour times vary with the season. From July 4th through Labor Day, it is open Sunday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. From Labor Day through Columbus Day and from the Memorial Day weekend to July 4th, it is open Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Monday through Friday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. From Columbus Day until the Memorial Day weekend, it is open Sunday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., and Monday through Friday at 2 p.m. for one tour. The synagogue often schedules additional hours during holiday weekends and special events. Groups may schedule visits at other times.

Touro Synagogue is on Touro Street in downtown Newport, a little more than a block east of the Old Colony House on Washington Square. For further information, write to Touro Synagogue, 85 Touro Street, Newport, RI 02840. Telephone: 401-847-4794.

Lorraine and Phil Shapiro are food and travel specialists living in Los Angeles. Lorraine is The Jewish Homemaker's Cooking section editor.