Congregation Jeshuat Israel v. Congregation Shearith Israel
| Decision Date | 16 May 2016 |
| Docket Number | C.A. No. 12-CV-822-M-LDA |
| Parties | Congregation Jeshuat Israel, Plaintiff, v. Congregation Shearith Israel, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Rhode Island |
Steven E. Snow, Partridge, Snow & Hahn LLP, Providence, RI, Daniel P. Schumeister, Gary P. Naftalis, Jonathan M. Wagner, Tobias B. Jacoby, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, New York, NY, for Plaintiff.
Deming E. Sherman, Krystle Guillory Tadesse, Locke Lord LLP, Providence, RI, Colin A. Underwood, Louis M. Solomon, Greenberg Traurig, LLP, Jennifer Chiang, Yan Grinblat, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, New York, NY, Rachel K. Caldwell, CVS Caremark Associate Legal Counsel, Woonsocket, RI, for Defendant.
MEMORANDUM, FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW, AND ORDER
Bricks and mortar of a temple, and silver and gold of religious ornaments, may appear to be at the center of the dispute between the two parties in this case, but such a conclusion would be myopic. The central issue here is the legacy of some of the earliest Jewish settlers in North America, who desired to make Newport a permanent haven for public Jewish worship, Fidelity to their purpose guides the Court in resolving the matters now before it.
After a thorough and exhaustive review of the evidence, determination of the disputed facts, and application of the relevant law, this Court concludes that 1) Touro Synagogue is owned in charitable trust for the purpose of preserving a permanent place of public Jewish worship; 2) the pair of Myer Myers Rimonim previously owned by Newport's earliest Jews is now owned by Congregation Jeshuat Israel, which is free to do with its property as it wishes; 3) Congregation Shearith Israel of New York should be removed as trustee of Touro Synagogue! and 4) Congregation Jeshuat Israel of Newport should be appointed as the new trustee.
On November 8, 2012, Congregation Jeshuat Israel brought an action in Rhode Island Superior Court (Newport County) against Congregation Shearith Israel over the ownership of a set of colonial-era finial bells (the Rimonim)1 crafted by the silversmith Myer Myers, and the control of Touro Synagogue, the oldest active synagogue in the United States. Compl., ECF No. 1-2. Jeshuat Israel seeks an order: l) pursuant to the Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act, R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 9–30–1, et seq ., declaring that it is the true and lawful owner of the Rimonim with full power to sell and convey them and to deposit the proceeds of such sale into an irrevocable endowment fund; 2) restraining Shearith Israel from interfering with Jeshuat Israel's planned sale of the Rimonim to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (MFA) for $7 million in net proceeds;2 3) or in the alternative, declaring that Shearith Israel only owns the Rimonim in trust for the benefit of Jeshuat Israel, and authorizing the sale of the Rimonim as in Jeshuat Israel's best interests; 4) removing Shearith Israel as trustee for Touro Synagogue and land, and declaring Jeshuat Israel's Board of Trustees as replacement trustee; and 5) declaring that Jeshuat Israel is the true and lawful owner of unspecified other personal property in its possession, besides the Rimonim, with full power to use, sell and convey the same.3 Id. at 12-16.
Shearith Israel removed the action to the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island, based on diversity of citizenship pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). Pet. for Removal, Nov. 14, 2012, ECF No. 1 at 1-2. Shearith Israel then filed an amended answer and six counterclaims against Jeshuat Israel, asking the Court l) to find that Jeshuat Israel breached an agreement with Shearith Israel by filing a lawsuit;4 2) to declare that Shearith Israel owns the Rimonim; 3) to enjoin the sale of the Rimonim, transfer the possession and control of the Rimonim to Shearith Israel, and for damages; 4) to declare that Shearith Israel owns and has all legal and equitable rights to the Touro Synagogue, its lands, and any and all historic personalty used by or for Touro Synagogue; 5) to terminate Jeshuat Israel's lease of Touro Synagogue; and 6) to enforce Jeshuat Israel's contractual obligations to Shearith Israel. Am. Answer and Countercl., Dec. 6, 2012, ECF No. 8 at 17-23.5
The parties zealously litigated this suit for over three years.6 Beginning on June 1, 2015, the Court conducted a nine-day bench trial that generated a 1,850-page transcript and approximately 900 admitted exhibits consisting of thousands of pages.7
The Court heard from seven live witnesses and admitted 12 depositions consisting of 1,990 pages of transcripts. Post-trial, the parties submitted 895 pages of briefing and proposed findings of fact. The Court heard closing arguments on September 18, 2015.
After an extensive and lengthy study and review of the voluminous record in this case, the Court issues these findings of fact. Following the numbered summary of the facts is a narrative elaborating on the Court's findings,
1. Jews first came to Newport, Rhode Island in the mid-17th century, fleeing religious persecution in Europe.
2. The Newport Jewish community formed a collective for worship that became known as Congregation Yeshuat Israel.
3. In the mid-18th century, members of the Newport Jewish community were taxed for the purchase of land for a Synagogue, and raised additional funds for building the edifice.
4. The land and Synagogue were acquired and owned in trust for the purpose of public Jewish worship.
5. The Newport Jewish community picked three leaders to serve as trustees for the Synagogue and lands, because at that time in Rhode Island, religious institutions could not incorporate, own land, or serve as trustees.
6. The three original trustees were Jacob Rodrigues Rivera, Moses Levy, and Isaac Hart. Although their names appeared on the deed to the Synagogue land, they did not own the land or Synagogue outright. They were only the legal owners and trustees, with a duty to preserve the property for public Jewish worship.
7. The construction of the Synagogue (now called Touro Synagogue) began in 1759 and ended by 1762. The Synagogue was consecrated in 1763.
8. The famous colonial-era silversmith Myer Myers made a pair of silver Rimonim for the Newport Jewish Community around the time when Touro Synagogue was built. These Rimonim originally belonged to Congregation Yeshuat Israel.
9. The majority of Jews left Newport in 1776 because of the Revolutionary War. Regular religious services at the Synagogue ended around 1793, only 30 years after the Synagogue's consecration. The last Jew left Newport in 1822.
10. Some members of Yeshuat Israel who left Newport joined, the New York Congregation Shearith Israel. They brought with them Yeshuat Israel's religious articles, including the Rimonim, which they deposited for safekeeping with Shearith Israel. They instructed Shearith Israel to return the Rimonim to the Jewish congregation thereafter worshiping in Newport.
11. Shearith Israel branded Yeshuat Israel's Rimonim with the word "Newport" on their bases, to distinguish them from Shearith Israel's own similar pair.
12. After the deaths of the three original trustees—Messrs. Rivera, Hart, and. Levy—the duties of trustee were passed on informally. Several individuals, including Moses Seixas, Moses Lopez, Abraham Touro, Judah Touro, and. Stephen Gould acted as trustees for the Touro Synagogue and lands. Shearith Israel also took on trustee duties.
13. Shearith Israel helped care for the Synagogue during the period when there were no Jews in Newport. It held the keys to the building and made it available for occasional funerals. Shearith Israel became the trustee for the Touro Synagogue.
14. Shearith Israel never owned, the Synagogue outright or the Rimonim at all. It only held legal title to the Synagogue as trustee, and served as bailee for the Rimonim.
15. After a sixty-year absence of Jews from Newport, a Jewish community began to return in the 1870s. The new community began to worship at Touro Synagogue under the guidance of a rabbi selected by Shearith Israel.
16. In 1894, the new Jewish community received articles of incorporation from the Rhode Island Legislature under the name Jeshuat Israel. Since that time, Jeshuat Israel has worshiped at Touro Synagogue under that name. It is currently the only established Jewish congregation in Newport, Rhode Island.
17. Shearith Israel returned the Rimonim to Newport's new Jewish community, which became Jeshuat Israel, sometime in the late 1800s or early 1900s, as Yeshuat Israel instructed it to do. Since that time, Jeshuat Israel has owned, controlled, and maintained the Rimonim without challenge, until this lawsuit over 100 years later. There is no impediment to Jeshuat Israel's desire to sell the Rimonim in order to establish an endowment to ensure permanent public Jewish worship at the Touro Synagogue.
18. A series of legal conflicts flared up between Shearith Israel and the Jews of Newport at the turn of the 20th century. These disputes were motivated by Shearith Israel's concern that Newport's new Jewish community would not conform to the Sephardic (Spanish and Portuguese) religious traditions previously observed by Yeshuat Israel and still practiced by Shearith Israel. Shearith Israel's concern about the form of Jewish worship was never a requirement of the original trust.
19. The disputes were mutually resolved in the early 20th century, when Shearith Israel, as trustee of the Synagogue, entered into a lease to allow Jeshuat Israel, as tenant, to worship at the Synagogue.
20. Jeshuat Israel has continually worshiped at Touro Synagogue since at least the beginning of the 20th century. It has maintained, preserved, and protected the Synagogue as a place for public Jewish worship for over 100 years.
21. As Jeshuat Israel's responsibilities for Touro Synagogue have expanded, Shearith Israel's have receded. For at least the past 20 years, Shearith...
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