Whom You Know: GEORGE WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM OPENS NEW VISITORS CENTER AT TOURO SYNAGOGUE IN NEWPORT, RI

Saturday, August 1, 2009

GEORGE WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM OPENS NEW VISITORS CENTER AT TOURO SYNAGOGUE IN NEWPORT, RI

The George Washington Institute for Religious Freedom announces that on August 2, 2009, the Ambassador John L. Loeb Jr. Visitors Center at Touro Synagogue will be open to the public for its first day of operation. Opening day is free of charge to the public.

The state-of-the art facility features interactive, multimedia exhibitions depicting the history of America's oldest Jewish house of worship; early American Jewry's contributions to American political thought and culture; the history of religious freedom and separation of church and state in Rhode Island; and a fresh look at George Washington's famous 1790 Letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, in which the first president pledges that the newly-formed United States would give "to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance."

John L. Loeb Jr. is the Chairman of the George Washington Institute for Religious Freedom. He is the former US ambassador to Denmark. He has donated the land and building to Congregation Jeshuat Israel, which worships at Touro Synagogue. Ambassador Loeb noted, "I am blessed to be related through my grandmother to Judah Touro (1775-1854) and his father, Isaac Touro (1738-1783). Isaac Touro was the spiritual leader of the Newport Congregation at the time the synagogue was built. Isaac's children Judah, Abraham and Rebecca Touro were among the nation's first significant philanthropists. This project honors them and all of the early American Jews who helped make this nation the most diverse, most tolerant and most free on earth."

The congregation has roots in Newport reaching back to 1658. Touro Synagogue, designed by Peter Harrison, recognized as America's first architect, was dedicated in 1763. It holds the distinction of being the oldest functioning synagogue building in the nation. It is recognized as a National Historic Site by the U.S. Parks Department and is the only religious building listed as a National Historic Site by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In addition to the exhibition center and the historic synagogue, visitors can enjoy the newly restored Patriots Park, dedicated to early American Jewish patriots who contributed to the development of this nation. Two blocks up from the synagogue is the "Colonial Jewish Cemetery," which inspired verse from American poets Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Emma Lazarus.

The Loeb Visitors Center is located on the Touro Synagogue campus at the intersection of Touro and Spring Streets, Newport, RI. On Sunday, August 2, both the new Visitors Center and the Synagogue will be open without charge from 9:00AM to 6:00 PM. Following Opening Day, the Center and Synagogue will be open 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM daily and closed on Saturdays. For more information, please visit www.tourosynagogue.org.

The George Washington Institute for Religious Freedom has built and will maintain the Loeb Visitors Center. The institute's mission is to promote awareness of the historic roots of religious freedom, its development in America and the role that early American Jewish men and women played both in enhancing and in benefiting from religious freedom. In addition to the Loeb Visitors Center, the George Washington Institute for Religious freedom supports educational programs for scholars, public figures, students and teachers who want to learn about and discuss the origins of religion in America.

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