This video shows my recent visit to the Touro synagogue in Newport Rhode, Island. I stopped by the historic Spanish-Portuguese synagogue Jeshuat Israel, the oldest synagogue building in North America. It was founded by the descendants of Conversos.
It is a beautiful synagogue. George Washington visited this congregation and it has a unique place in the history of the United States as well as in Jewish history.
I was not able to take video of the inside, but I do have pictures I will post.
Posted by Rabbi Juan Bejarano-Gutierrez, the director of the B’nei Anusim Center for Education, and author of What is Kosher?
Rabbi Juan Marcos Bejarano-Gutierrez is a graduate of the University of Texas at Dallas where he earned a bachelor of science in electrical engineering. He studied at the Siegal College of Judaic Studies in Cleveland and received a Master of Arts Degree with Distinction in Judaic Studies.
He completed his doctoral studies at the Spertus Institute of Jewish Learning and Leadership in Chicago in 2015. His doctoral dissertation is titled “Complex Identities: Christian and Jewish Attitudes Towards Conversos” and was accepted in September 2015.
He also studied at the American Seminary for Contemporary Judaism and received rabbinic ordination in 2011 from Yeshivat Mesilat Yesharim.
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B'nei Anusim Center for Education 