Rabbi Haim Isaac Carigal and the first rabbinical sermon published in the colonies

From William Tennent to George Whitfield, itinerant preachers and clergymen are very much a part of colonial American history and folklore. And, surprisingly perhaps, rabbis were among them. At least six rabbis visited Newport between 1759 and 1775, and one of them, Rabbi Haim Isaac Carigal of Hebron, delivered the first rabbinical sermon published in the colonies at Touro Synagogue on Shavuot in 1773. The publication is a collector’s item today, and Touro Synagogue is fortunate to have a copy of it in its archives.

Born in Hebron in 1733, Rabbi Carigal traveled extensively throughout the Near East, the Middle East and Europe before arriving in the colonies. He visited New York and Philadelphia first and arrived in Newport in March 1773. Ironically, while Rabbi Carigal traveled extensively outside the Holy Land, he never went to the Dead Sea, just a few miles from his Hebron home, because the Turks did not permit Jews to travel freely throughout the country.

In Newport, he made the acquaintance of Reverend Ezra Stiles, minister of the Second Congregational Church, and began a friendship and correspondence with him that lasted until Rabbi Carigal’s death. Reverend Stiles, an avid and              prolific diarist who later became the president of Yale University, was fascinated by Rabbi Carigal’s intellect, scholarship and exotic dress. Reverend Stiles, who was very interested in Judaism and the Hebrew language, attended services at the synagogue often and recorded his observations in great detail. (In fact, most of the information that we have about the dedication of Touro Synagogue at Hanukkah in 1763 comes from entries Reverend Stiles made in his diary.)

Rabbi Carigal stayed in Newport for four months. The two clergymen met often and amicably, engaged in lengthy discussions and “discoursed on many Things” ranging from mysticism, kabbalah and ventriloquism (witchcraft) to whether “Moses wrote all the Pentateuch” and if “Lot’s wife was still standing in a Pillar of Salt on the Shores of the Dead Sea.”

Reverend Stiles attended services on Purim, Passover and Shavuot during Rabbi Carigal’s visit and described the rabbi’s demeanor and attire at each service. At Purim, he tells us Rabbi Carigal had “the appearance of an ingenious & sensible Man [who was] one of two persons that stood by the Chuzan…at the reading Desk while the Book of Esther was read.” He further describes him as wearing “a red garment with the usual Phylacteries and habiliments, the white Surplice; [and] a high brown furr [sic] Cap.”

At Passover, Reverend Stiles writes, “The Chocam Rabbi was there…was one called up to the Reading of the Law [and] behaved modestly and reverently.” He wore “A green silk Vest or long under Garment reaching down more than half way the Legs or within 3 inches of the Ankles…[with a] Girdle or Sash of different Colors red and green [that] girt the Vest around his Body…[and which had an] Opening above the Girdle [where] he put in his handkerchief and Snuff-box, and Watch.” He also had a “long black Beard, the upper Lip partly shaven–his Head shaved all over [and on which] he wore a high Fur Cap, exactly like a Womans [sic] Muff, and about 9 or 10 Inches high, the Aperture atop was closed with green cloth.” Reverend Stiles also informs us “Some part of the Singing in the Synagogue [that] day was exceeding fine & melodious.”

The Governor of Rhode Island and other dignitaries attended the Shavuot service apparently to hear the visitor from the Holy Land speak and “were seated in the Seat of the Parness or President of the Synagogue.” Rabbi Carigal “preached a Sermon about 47 minutes long in Spanish [Ladino] interspersed with Hebrew [in which his] Oratory, Elocution and Gestures were fine and oriental [and during which he] was very animated [and had] a Dignity and Authority about him, mixt [sic] with Modesty.” The sermon, Reverend Stiles writes, described the suffering of the Jews but exhorted the congregation not to be discouraged, to love one another and to look forward to the coming of the Messiah. The sermon was translated into English for publication by Abraham Lopez.

Rabbi Carigal left Newport for Surinam in July 1773 and died in Barbados in May 1777.

BEA ROSS is president of Congregation Jeshuat Israel at Touro Synagogue in Newport. She is the former Executive Director of the Touro Synagogue Foundation and a past president of the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island Women’s Alliance.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is part of a series about Hiddur Mitzvah (enhancement or beautification of   the divine commandment). In appreciation of Hiddur Mitzvah, The Jewish Voice will highlight Judaica collections and treasures in our synagogues and museums throughout the state.