Minyan at America’s Oldest Shul Can Remain, For Now

A District Court judge has spared from eviction the minyan that for a more than a century has called Touro Synagogue its spiritual home, The Providence Journal reports. Judge Colleen Hastings granted Congregation Jeshuat Israel’s motion to dismiss the eviction action brought by Congregation Shearith Israel, the New York congregation declared the rightful owners of the shul after a long legal fight.

In ruling, Hastings accepted Congregation Jeshuat Israel’s arguments that the matter should be dismissed due to a defective date in the filing. “[T]he termination of tenancy should have listed February 1, 2022, as the vacate date, not January 31, 2022, as provided. (`Although a tenant may be clearly apprised of the termination of his lease, we have determined a notice to be fatally defective when it ordered the tenant to quit on the last day of his term instead of the day following it.’),” lawyer Michael Crane wrote, citing Rhode Island case law.

Congregation Shearith Israel, the nation’s oldest Jewish congregation, founded in 1654, had moved in January to take repossession of the shul by ejecting the leadership of Congregation Jeshuat Israel.

“We are very pleased with the Court’s ruling today that dismisses this meritless eviction action. We hope that our New York landlord will now choose to finalize the terms for a long-term lease for Jeshuat Israel that will provide certainty and stability for our congregation going forward,” Louise Teitz, co-president, Congregation Jeshuat Israel, said in a statement.