Jasper County Sheriff's Office history

The street next to the synagogue had been named Touro Street because Abraham Touro had donated a large sum to the property’s maintenance in 1822, and when the state legislature accepted the gift, they referred to the synagogue as Touro Synagogue.

Temple Beth-El (Providence, R.I.) Records, I-460 Temple Beth-El, located on the East Side of Providence, dates back to 1849, with the creation of the group Sons of Israel.

While vacationing with his family in Newport in 1852, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow came across the Jewish cemetery in Newport and wrote a poem, "The Jewish Cemetery at Newport." In it he describes the absence of Jews in Newport and the upkeep of graves of those that once lived there:

Although the congregation was originally Orthodox, it affiliated with the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (Union for Reform Judaism) in 1877.

In 1897, a group of young Jewish men from Newport, known as the “Touro Cadets,” organized themselves to fight in the Spanish-American war.14

J. Jerome Hahn, the first Jewish justice of Rhode Island’s Supreme Court, did so in 1931, five years before the state’s tercentenary.

The Jewish Welfare Board, the former national association of Jewish community centers, surveyed the facilities and programs of the Providence JCC, on Benefit Street, in 1934.

May 28, 1945: 500 delegates from 51 Jewish organizations met and approved the formation of the General Jewish Committee of Providence, Inc., as a response to the atrocities inflicted on Jews in Europe during World War II.

In 1946, Touro Synagogue was designated a National Historic Site.

A November 10, 1948 issue of Providence's Temple Beth-El Bulletin.

The problem was unexpectedly solved, in November 1952, by an offer to rent the soon-to-be vacated police station at the corner of Potters Avenue and Hamilton Street for $1 a year, provided the JCC made necessary repairs to the building, including replacing the boiler.

The renovations began in May 1954.

Questions arose in 1966 about the further usefulness of the South Side Branch.

Just months later, in 1967, the South Side Branch closed.

In 1970, this body became the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island, a volunteer-driven organization that provided community planning, leadership development, and philanthropy to ensure a strong and vibrant community.

1971: The building on Elmgrove Avenue in the heart of the East Side of Providence, known as the Jewish Community Center of Rhode Island (JCC) was completed.

Since the early 1980’s, “Roving Rabbis” have made the island community their home every summer through the efforts of Rabbi Yehoshua Laufer, the Chabad representative to Rhode Island.

In 1982 it was again honored with a postage stamp, which celebrated Washington’s 250th birthday.

In 2006, Rabbi Moshe and Mirel Laufer established a Chabad center to service the Jews of the East Bay of Rhode Island—including Newport.

January 2011: the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island, the Jewish Community Center, and the Bureau of Jewish Education merged to become the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

In 2013, the facility was renamed the Bonnie and Donald Dwares Jewish Community Center in recognition of a $1 million gift from the Dwares.