Congregants at oldest synagogue detail financial straits

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - The Rhode Island congregation that worships at the nation's oldest synagogue was in financial straits in 2012 when they decided to sell a set of ceremonial bells worth millions of dollars, congregants testified Wednesday in a legal dispute between them and a New York Jewish congregation, the nation's first.

The congregation that worships at the 250-year-old Touro Synagogue in Newport and Congregation Shearith Israel from New York are suing each other in federal court.

The New York congregation owns the synagogue, but that is among the only facts in the case on which the two sides agree.

U.S. District Judge John McConnell on Wednesday, the third day of the bench trial, made reference to their many disagreements on the smallest matters.

"I remain eternally optimistic that the two of you can get along at some point about something," he told the lawyers in the case.

The New York congregation said it also owns the bells. The Newport congregation said it owns the bells, and the New York congregation simply holds the synagogue in trust for the benefit of the Jewish community in Newport, which it embodies. Touro is the only synagogue in Newport.

Amid the dispute, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston rescinded its $7.4 million offer to buy the bells.