Touro Synagogue This 1759 synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, is the oldest Jewish house of worship still standing in the United States. President Washington visited “the Hebrew Congregation” there in 1790 and wrote: “It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights.” Touro Synagogue/photo John T. Hopf.