Appeals court decides fate of nation's oldest synagogue

BOSTON (AP) — A federal appeals court in Boston has decided the fate of the nation's oldest synagogue, overturning a lower court's decision that put control of the building and a set of bells worth millions of dollars in the hands of the congregation that worships there.

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals announced its decision Wednesday.

That means control of the nation's oldest synagogue, Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, will no longer be in the hands of the local congregation but rather under the control of the nation's oldest Jewish congregation, Shearith Israel in New York.

The decision also gives Shearith Israel ownership of a set of silver Colonial-era bells, called rimonim, valued at $7.4 million.

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