Offering more than the subtitle suggests, this ambitious but uneven work uses the history of the Touro Synagogue in Newport, R.I., as the focal point of a fact-filled, frequently intriguing overview of European persecution of the Jews, particularly the Jews of Spain and Portugal and their suffering during the Inquisition, and the kindling of religious freedom in colonial and post-Revolutionary America. In covering these broad subjects, however, the author neglects some fundamental areas. Oddly, there is no discussion of possible causes of Jewish persecution, merely a dramatic statement that lumps together all victims of the Inquisition, begun by the Church in 1229, with the aim of "rout[ing] out all those who did not believe as the church wished them to believe. Jews, Muslims, scientists, artists, writers?all those who dared to be different?could be accused of heresy." It's scanty armor against the inevitable, disturbing question, Why the Jews? The chronicling of the Jews of Newport and the building of the synagogue forms the most solid section, although even here the language has an overblown quality: "The quietness of the building's exterior... belied the tormented history of its congregants, resolute in their beliefs." Fisher's fans may be disappointed that this book, unlike his Alexander Graham Bell (reviewed above), is illustrated not with his acclaimed paintings but primarily with black-and-white photographs, many of which lack crispness and clarity. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 5 Up-This historical survey of events contributing to the establishment of the Touro Synagogue, completed in Newport, RI, in 1763 focuses on aspects of the development of Jewish religious freedom in the United States. In laborious detail readers are led from Rome's destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple in A.D. 70 through the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions to the arrival of Jews in America (to a mixed welcome) and finally to the construction of the synagogue. Historical correspondence between George Washington and Moses Seixas, leader of the synagogue in 1790, as well as black-and-white photographs, reproductions, and blueprints illustrate the book. The dry text is not user-friendly; there are no chapter divisions or textual separations of any kind. The appeal of this title will be limited to libraries with large Jewish populations or Jewish day schools.
Malka Keck, The Temple Tifereth Israel, Beachwood, OH
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
See all Editorial Reviews
