Judge: Newport Congregation Owns Touro Synagogue

NEWPORT, RI—Newport's Touro Synagogue—the oldest synagogue in the country—shall be in the care and stewardship of the local Congregation Jeshuat Israel, a federal judge ruled Monday in a decision centered on "the legacy of some of the earliest Jewish settlers in North America."

U.S. District Court John J. McConnell Jr., in his 106-page decision released Monday, wrote that the synagogue and the artifacts within, including a set of valuable Colonial-era bells, are owned by the local congregation, "which is free to do with its property as it wishes."

The Newport congregation sought to sell the bells, or rimonium, to the Musem of Fine Arts in Boston for $7 million.

The decision also orders the removal of New York's Congregation Shearith Israeal as trustee. They had held the bells, along with other artifacts and the synagogue in trust for decades.

READ: Judge McConnell's ruling

This story is being updated.