America at 250: The Jews of Newport

About this event

By 1775, Newport was home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the American colonies and to what remains the oldest extant synagogue in North America. The city’s Jewish population included Sephardic Jews, many of whom were only the first or second generation of their families to openly practice Judaism after emigrating from the Iberian Peninsula, as well as Ashkenazi Jews from Western and Central Europe. Marked by extraordinary mobility, these Jews reclaimed and reshaped their Jewish identities in the Atlantic world. Together, they established themselves as merchants, shopkeepers, shipowners and, in some cases, participants in the Atlantic slave trade. The American Revolution proved devastating for Newport. As British forces occupied the city, many residents departed, including members of the Jewish community, some of whom left with the British army, while others sought refuge in Massachusetts, Connecticut or New York. These departures occurred despite the Tory sympathies of Newport’s longtime spiritual leader, Isaac Touro, and reflected the profound disruption the war inflicted on the city as a whole. Join Dr. Jonathan Sarna (Brandeis University), one of the foremost experts in American Jewish history, and Joseph Weisberg, doctoral candidate in the History Department at Brandeis University, to explore how the Jews of Newport navigated the early years of the American Revolution and how their decisions shaped both Jewish life and the wider community. This program is offered at no cost and available to attend in-person or online. About America at 250: Jewish Beginnings in a New Land Stories of the Revolutionary War tend to focus on Betsy Ross sewing the Stars and Stripes, Paul Revere’s midnight ride to warn the Minutemen and George Washington and his ragtag army barely surviving the winter at Valley Forge. While Jews made up less than 0.04 percent of the American population in 1776, they left an indelible mark on the nation’s founding. As we celebrate the Semiquincentennial of the Declaration of Independence, The Temple Emanu‑El Streicker Cultural Center is proud to highlight and honor the often-overlooked contributions of our Jewish forebears in a program led by Dr. Jonathan Sarna (Brandeis University), Dr. Laura Arnold Leibman (Princeton University), Joseph Weisberg (PhD candidate, Brandeis University), Dr. Shari Rabin (Oberlin College) and Dr. Toni Pitock (Drexel University), some of the foremost experts in early American Jewish history.