Jeshuat Israel, Shearith Israel return to court

The Rhode Island Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Dec. 12 about the appeal of Congregation Jeshuat Israel of Newport to overturn Rhode Island Superior Court Judge Maureen B. Keogh’s 2023 decision upholding landlord Congregation Shearith Israel of New York City’s eviction of Jeshuat Israel from Touro Synagogue, the nation’s oldest standing synagogue. Jeshuat Israel claimed that Shearith Israel didn’t follow proper procedures in the eviction.

Attorney Jonathan Wagner spoke for Jeshuat Israel. Attorney Mitchell Edwards spoke for Shearith Israel.

Touro was dedicated on the first day of Hanukkah, Dec. 2, 1763. Jeshuat Israel has been a tenant since 1903, paying $1 per year.

As the appellant, Jeshuat Israel had the burden of proof. Shearith Israel merely had to restate the arguments that won the case. Both parties had submitted briefs in advance.

Jeshuat Israel argued that a 1945 agreement between the two congregations and the US Department of the Interior about Touro Synagogue’s designation as a National Historic Site created a condition that had to be met before an eviction. 

Wagner conceded that Shearith Israel did indeed own the synagogue and had a right to evict but only after consulting the Department of the Interior, so no big issues were at stake. The ownership issue of Touro Synagogue was decided in a 2019 Boston Federal Court of Appeals decision. After a long legal battle, the decision, written by former Supreme Court Justice David Souter, confirmed that Shearith Israel owned the synagogue. 

The 1945 agreement requires consultation of the Secretary of the Interior about any major issue involving the program of preserving the synagogue and making it available to the public, “the parties shall mutually consult on all matters of importance to the program.”

Wagner said that Jeshuat Israel’s 140 years of caring for Touro Synagogue made it an essential part of the program. He implied that nobody else could do it, particularly newly incorporated Newport Congregation Ahavath Israel, which Edwards said would enter into a lease agreement for the synagogue. Wagner called Ahavath Israel a sham, alluding to the fact that three of the incorporators were from New York. 

In a blistering series of questions, Supreme Court Justice Maureen McKenna Goldberg repeatedly challenged Wagner, “Why does landlord-tenant relations become part of the program?” Wagner was also chided more than once by the justices for his careful quotes from the 1945 agreement, which sometimes omitted relevant phrases. The justices said every word was important.

Article two in the 1945 agreement states, “nothing shall impact the rights of the parties as lessor and lessee.” Shearith Israel’s brief states that the 1945 agreement applied to “successors and assigns,” and since the agreement “does not have a provision requiring the Secretary [of the Interior] to consent to any assignment,” the Department of the Interior had no interest in the congregations’ landlord-tenant relationship. Furthermore, since Shearith Israel would keep it open for all to worship, any such interest would amount to a first amendment breach, an interference with the freedom of religion. 

A decision can be expected in 60-90 days.

AARON GINSBURG, a Newport native, lives in Stoughton, Massachusetts. He can be reached at aaron.ginsburg@gmail.com.