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NY congregation can evict tenants of historic Touro Synagogue, Rhode Island judge rules
(JTA) — A Rhode Island judge has ruled in favor of a historic New York City synagogue that is seeking to remove the leadership of the congregation that meets at another historic synagogue building — Newport’s famed Touro Synagogue.
The ruling, issued Thursday, would evict the leadership of Congregation Jeshuat Israel, or CJI, which has been meeting at the Touro synagogue, America’s oldest, since the early 1900s.
Congregation Shearith Israel in New York City, also known as the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, owns the Touro building and has complained in recent years that CJI has failed to be a good steward of the site.
The two congregations have been in and out of court for at least a decade. CJI has been leasing the site for a symbolic $1 a year since the early 1900s. Shearith Israel, the nation’s oldest Jewish congregation — it was established in Manhattan in the 17th century and has occupied several different buildings since — refused in 2021 to renew CJI’s lease and ordered the congregation to vacate the premises by Feb. 21, 2023.
In June, the dispute reached the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Maureen Keough. In a lengthy decision read from the bench on Thursday, Keough said she could find no reason to rule in favor of the tenants but stayed the eviction until September. At that point, a hearing will take place to decide whether the congregation can remain in place while any appeals are underway, meaning that CJI is likely to remain in place at least through this year’s High Holidays, which begin on Sept. 15.
Louis Solomon, the parnas, or president, of Shearith Israel, welcomed the ruling.
“We’re committed to not only reviving the community but reviving the place Touro has in the hearts and minds of Jews all over America,” he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Michael Crane, an attorney for CJI, declined to comment. Louise M. Teitz, CJI’s co-president, did not respond to a request for comment.
The arrangement between the two Orthodox congregations has been tense for over a decade, and boiled over when CJI tried, in 2012, to sell a valuable set of Torah adornments from Touro’s inventory. In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively confirmed the New York synagogue’s ownership of the building and its pricey artifacts by declining to take up a challenge to its claims.
During the latest trial, Teitz noted the lengthy tenancy of CJI, saying its leadership had long maintained the integrity of the building and grounds, and had hired its rabbis.
“This is the only building that we have worshiped in for almost 140 years, and it is our, I guess I would call it our spiritual home, and we have provided services and a full-time rabbi who is there 24-7,” Teitz, a law professor at Roger Williams Law School and an adjunct law professor at NYU Law School, said in court on June 29. “I think all of us think of in a way as synonymous with the congregation because we have preserved and nurtured and cared for the building for so long.”
In turn, Shearith Israel has said that the congregation has not been forthright about the millions of dollars it would need to repair the building, which was built between 1759 and 1763. The New York synagogue also objected to decisions made by the CJI board, which included erecting a gravestone at Touro’s historic cemetery for a still-living donor without the New York synagogue’s knowledge.
Services at CJI are currently led by an interim rabbi, Stephen Belsky. According to Solomon, Shearith Israel has been in conversation with another congregation in Providence, Ahavas Israel, that is interested in holding services at Touro. Ahavas Israel was incorporated as a Rhode Island nonprofit corporation on April 4, 2023, and, according to a website called Jewish Newport, is not currently holding services.
The fight between the New York and Newport congregations stands in sharp contrast to the historical concord that the Touro Synagogue represents. After a visit to Newport in 1790, President George Washington wrote a letter to the congregation that is considered a landmark statement of religious freedom and tolerance.
In a previous statement to JTA, Teitz wrote on behalf of her board that she was “devastated that our Congregation has become the target of a shameful power grab by another Jewish congregation that over the years has not provided us or Touro any meaningful support at all. We condemn this destructive attack on our congregation and displacement of our community, and call upon Shearith Israel to let Jeshuat Israel live and pray in peace.”
In statements from the bench, Keough regretted that the two congregations had not solved their differences in mediation.
“If there was ever a case that cried out for mediation, based on what I’ve read it’s this one. It’s clear to me how passionate everyone is about this,” Keough said, according to the Providence Journal. Going to trial, she said, “should be a last resort. I’m sad we’ve gotten here.”
Solomon said Shearith Israel is excited about the future of Touro under a new board of overseers that it would appoint. He said current members of CJI would be welcome to join the congregation.
“We have 15 things that we want to program. We want to have scholars there. We want people to come up for the summers there,” he said. “I think it’s a time to heal and a time to grow.”
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Putin Apologizes Over ‘Tragic Incident’ with Azerbaijan Airlines Plane Crash
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Photo: Reuters/Maxim Shemetov
i24 News – Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev for what he said represented a “tragic incident” in Russian airspace involving an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane that crashed on Wednesday.
Flight J2-8243 crashed in a ball of fire near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from southern Russia where Ukrainian drones were reported to be attacking several cities. At least 38 people were killed while 29 survived.
“Vladimir Putin apologized for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
“It was noted in the conversation that the Azerbaijani passenger aircraft, which was traveling according to its schedule, repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport. At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defense systems repelled these attacks,” the Kremlin said.
The post Putin Apologizes Over ‘Tragic Incident’ with Azerbaijan Airlines Plane Crash first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israeli Official: Houthis More Technologically Advanced than Credited, Must Not Be Underestimated
FILE PHOTO: Houthi military helicopter flies over the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea in this photo released November 20, 2023. Photo: Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
i24 News – The Houthis are more technologically advanced than credited and must not be underestimated, an Israeli official told i24NEWS, adding that the jihadist movement operating out of Yemen was “ideologically toxic.”
The Yemeni terrorists have displayed the relentless will to fight in campaigns against the Saudis and others, the official added. “The Houthis’ flag spells out their goals: destroy America, destroy the Jews, destroy Israel. They get most of their support from Iran and they are very extreme. Their ideology is clear: they want to destroy America and Israel, and are trying to take practical steps in that direction.”
In recent weeks the Houthis have escalated their attacks on Israel, firing ballistic missiles and drones at the Jewish state almost nightly and sending millions of Israelis into bomb shelters.
“The Houthis pose a threat to international security and global trade. Therefore, an international coalition should confront and eliminate this threat,” the official underscored.
Israel “has shown that it has the capability and the resolve to fight a multi front war, and it has had incredible accomplishments since it was attacked in October 2023. It has practically decimated Hamas, Hezbollah and Syrian capabilities. It has exposed Iran’s vulnerabilities and now is an opportunity to cooperate with an international coalition to reduce the Houthis.”
The post Israeli Official: Houthis More Technologically Advanced than Credited, Must Not Be Underestimated first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Raises New Demands in Ceasefire Talks, Refusing to Provide Lists of Hostages
A person walks past pictures of hostages kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7 attack by Hamas from Gaza, projected on a screen, in Tel Aviv, Israel, May 31, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Marko Djurica
i24 News – Negotiations for the release of Israeli hostages are still ongoing, yet Hamas is raising new demands regarding wounded hostages and refuses to provide a list of living hostages; moreover, whoever conducts the negotiations on their behalf does not necessarily control the happening on the ground, i24NEWS learned on Friday.
Israel applies heavy pressure on Hamas to live up to the promises.
While the Israeli negotiations team has returned from Doha, the talks for the hostage deal are still ongoing, not affected by the team’s physical presence. According to sources familiar with the details, Hamas poses serious problems that hinder the ability to close the deal, chief among them – the list of hostages whose release should be prioritized on humanitarian grounds.
Israel, i24NEWS can report, insists on complete lists of live hostages, but these have not yet been received. Also, as i24NEWS learned, Hamas refuses to release wounded hostages as part of the humanitarian list and attempts to demand special compensation for them.
Israeli negotiators are unwilling to accept changes to conditions established earlier and exert heavy pressure on the group from various directions.
Officials in Jerusalem say they hope that Hamas will decide to come together to conclude the deal, because the decision is entirely theirs.
Another serious concern for Israel, i24NEWS learned, is that those who conduct the negotiations on behalf of Hamas do not necessarily control the happening on the ground. This, as the dust has not yet settled on the decision-making and organizational structure of Hamas after the elimination of its leader Yahya Sinwar, making it extremely complicated to manage the talks. Israeli officials want to make sure that whoever represents the terrorist group vis-à-vis the mediators is also able to return the hostages from the hands of Hamas in Gaza.
At the same time, Jerusalem believes that the various conditions that pressure Hamas are still valid and even growing: the achievements against Hezbollah and against Iran, the collapse of Syria, and the weakening of the Shiite axis, the strikes in Yemen, the anti-terror activity in Judea and Samaria, the IDF activity in Jabaliya, in Beit Hanon and Rafah, as well as in the Karni-Netzarim corridor, together with the impending coming into office of the Trump administration, work to press Hamas to a point of great isolation, where it would be desperate for a ceasefire.
The post Hamas Raises New Demands in Ceasefire Talks, Refusing to Provide Lists of Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.