Internet Connection NOW SERVICING ALL OF OAKLAND COUNTY Lowest Monthly Rates in Metro Detroit! '12.50 per month Unlimited Hours exp. 9/30/96 Service performance with no busy signals and I 0: I user- to-line ratio resulting in 100% customer retention and satisfaction. All Internet services included. Attention Commercial Businesses! For every five businesses that purchase the Basic SpeedLink Com- mercial Package (Domain Name, Web Publishing and Web Site Hosting service), SpeedLink will donate equal service to a non- profit organization in the community. Synagogues Call for your Free Account! CALL (810) 334-5492 or 335-1309 SpeedLink A Division of SpeedNet, Inc. O http://www.speedlink.net e-mail: speed@speedlink.net 53 1/2 West Huron. Street, Suite 211 Pontiac, MI 48342 Have you inonths, Elizabeth tended to the small seedling as it took to grow. She root and began, ever given a gift so wonderful, someone carries it devoted herself to nurturing the miniature sprout and soon, the Jewish families in her community began to Elizabeth's share in excitement while they waited with them the rest of their life? Please give blood. There's a life to be saved right now. Call 1-800 GIVE LIFE for the plant to bloom. continued on page 126 Ansoficonlle8Cross Cl) LLJ TYPE OF CAR / SIMILAR Cn LL 1 -- CD CC F- LLI UJ MANUAL CARS A FIAT UNO STING B PEUGEOT 205 / OPEL CORSA C SEAT IBIZA 1.4 / MAZDA 1.3 P.S PEUGEOT 306 C° PEUGEOT 405 1.6 M MINIBUS FORD N BABY BUS 7 SEATS LS 15 APR 96 30 JUN 96 1.47 196 238 266 29.4 560 aao AUTOMATIC CARS + AC SUZUKY SWIFT MAZDA 323 1.6 •NISSAN SUNNY ' SUBARU LEGACY 1.8 •GMC VANDURA ' PEUGEOT 405 1.8 XL NISSAN PRIMIERA SX •VOLVO 940 / SIMILAR KX •GMC SAFARI D E F G 266 315 350 43•4 637 .4,77 581 658 700 • POWER STEERING & ELECTRIC WINDOWS NO. 1 IN ISRAEL ELDANITIN RENT-A-CAR 237 -177311.117 FROM14 us$ • 7 PER WEEK MILEAGE • EXC. INS. USA & CANADA Toll Free: (1) 800-938-5000 IN NY: 212-629-6090 (CELLULAR PHONE AVAILABLE) http://www.eldan.co.i1/ ISRAEL from '790 (roundtrip from Windsor) METRO DETROIT ISRAEL EXPERT 810-FLY EL-AL Newport's historic Touro Synagogue. Touro Synagogue Highlights Newport RUTH ROVNER SPECI AL TO THE JEWISH NEWS S ituated at the southern tip of Rhode Island on Nara- gansett Bay, with a deep water harbor filled with yachts and other pleasure boats, Newport is distinctly a seaside town. With street names such as America's Cup Way and a giant shellfish sculpture on its pedes- trian mall downtown, the nau- tical theme is everywhere evident. It's also well known for its el- egant seaside mansions — the largest concentation of mansions anywhere in the United States — which were the summer homes of socialites. But Newport has another at- traction that makes it a special destination for the Jewish trav- eler. It is home to the oldest syn- agogue in continuing use in the United States. A modest brick building halfway up a hilly street not far from the center of town, Touro Synagogue was our first stop dur- ing a recent visit to Newport. When we arrived, visitors were already clustered outside, wait- ing for the next tour to begin. The synagogue attracts 35,000 visi- tors annually, and in the sum- mer, tours are given daily, several times a day, to accommodate the numerous visitors. While waiting for the tour, we read the plaque posted outside which designates Touro Syna- gogue as a National Historic Site. Soon Rabbi Chaim Shapiro led the way inside. The modest ex- terior had not prepared us for the stately and ornate sanctuary, with its domed ceiling, gleaming candlelebra, and 12 classical columns, representing the 12 tribes of Israel. The rabbi, who often gives tours himself and also supervis- es the other tour guides, invited us to take seats as he sketched in the background of the synagogue and of Congregation Yeshuat Is- rael, whose members still wor- ship here. The Orthodox congregation was founded by Sephardic Jews from Amsterdam. In the 1650s, when the Dutch started sending explorers to the New World, es- pecially the Caribbean, Sephardic Jews also set out by sea and set- tled in Curacao, St. Thomas and Barbados. In 1858, 16 Sephardim from Barbados traveled to a newly founded colony called Rhode Is- land. "It was founded by Roger Williams, who established the principle of religious freedom for all," said Rabbi Shapiro. In Newport they founded the second Jewish congregation in the U.S. The first had started four years earlier when a small group of Sephardim came by boat to New York. The early Newport settlers prospered as merchants and shippers. And by the 1750s, they bought a piece of land and vot- ed to build a permanent syna- gogue. "At the time there were fewer than 35 Jewish families in Newport, so this was quite an ac- complishment," said the rabbi. To build their house of wor- ship, they contacted prominent architect Peter Harrison. At first, he was hesitant to take on the as- signment. "He said,'How can I do this? I've never even seen a syn- agogue!"' related Rabbi Shapiro. But the leader of the congre- gation, Isaac Touro, was able to describe in careful detail the Por- tuguese Sephardic synagogue in Amsterdam. "And from these de- scriptions, Harrison designed the .