Touro Synagogue in Newport was the next stop on the bus trip. This is designated as a National Historic Site but is not one of the NPS units, most likely because it is still an active congregation. The history of the community is one of perseverance and faith. I do recommend taking the guided tour to hear the entire story. The most notable occurrence in the congregation's history is their concern for religious persecution after the colonies won their independence. Their letter to Washington and his reply is reprinted today to demonstrate what religious tolerance should be for everyone. Copies are available in the visitor center. When I visit active houses of worship, regardless of the faith, I tend not to take a lot of interior photos as it can be considered disrespectful. In this temple, they did ask us to refrain from photos until the end and to take photos only from the rear of the building. The vertical photo on the left page is my photo. The remaining images are all postcards that I bought in the gift shop.
This layout is based on one of the CM Virtual Crop sketches that I saved. The paper and stickers are from a Judaic pack that I purchased from CM a few years ago. When it was first sold, two of my fellow advisors held a class to help those unfamiliar with the Jewish faith to understand what the designs were and why they were included in the pack. I'm very glad I took that class as I felt much better choosing the papers and stickers to correspond to the sketch. Now the red matches the photos but is really supposed to represent pomegranates for one of the holidays. You don't see the fruit on the tonal paper so I think it worked well for a non-holiday layout. A special thanks to the Rabois (friends of mine from the NPTC) who also looked over this after I completed it and assured me that I did not inadvertently make a faux pas on any religious icon usage.
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