76th reading of Washington’s letter at Touro Synagogue
to honor religious freedom, public service
Every summer, Touro Synagogue Foundation partners with Congregation Jeshuat Israel to host the George Washington Letter Reading, an event honoring our nation’s heritage of religious freedom.
George Washington’s August 1790 letter to “To the Hebrew Congregation in Newport” was written during his first trip to Rhode Island as President and affirmed the new national government’s absolute commitment to the free exercise of religion, which he regarded as an “inherent natural right.” The federal government, he stated, “gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.” The annual event has a long tradition of distinguished keynote speakers and letter readers, including Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan. The theme of this year’s event is public service.
August 2023 marks the 76th reading of the famous letter. Nellie Gorbea, former Rhode Island Secretary of State and a visiting senior fellow in democracy and cybersecurity at Salve Regina University, has been selected for this honor. Angela Johnson, social studies teacher at Rogers High School and the 2021-2022 Newport Public Schools Teacher of the Year, will read the letter to President Washington from Moses Seixas of Newport’s Hebrew Congregation, which inspired Washington’s famous response. David Cicilline, former longtime Rhode Island United States Congressman and the President and CEO of Rhode Island Foundation, will deliver the keynote address.
The event will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 20, at Touro Synagogue. While in-person seating is limited, the event will be live-streamed, and all may attend virtually via a link on the Touro Synagogue Facebook page: facebook.com/TouroSynagogue.
For more information, please email meryle@tourosynagogue.org or phone (401) 847-4794 ext. 207.
(401) 847-4794, ext.
207
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