Philanthropist. Born in Newport, R.I., where his father was a cantor, Touro was educated in Boston by his uncle, Moses Michael Hays. Touro prospered as a merchant in New Orleans, amassing a huge fortune which was distributed at his death to causes in the U.S. and Jerusalem. When a Universalist church was foreclosed and sold at auction, Touro bought the property and returned it to its congregation. His name is honored in many places, notably in the Touro Synagogue at Newport, which was named a national religious shrine in 1947.