The Jews of the North Caribbean

The Jews of the North Caribbean

By ROBERTA SOTONOFF
November 8, 2005
www.juf.org/news_public_affairs/article.asp?key=6569

Way before there were packaged trips to Aruba, Jews
have been visiting the Dutch Caribbean. They didn't
come just for sun and fun. It was for the usual
reason-to escape persecution.

The Dutch have always been benevolent toward the Jews.
So it follows that the Dutch Caribbean Islands would
be a refuge for them. Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao
(pronounced cur-as-ow), Saba (pronounced say-ba), St.
Maarten, St. Eustatius (called Statia and pronounced
stay-sha), and
Surinam (formerly Dutch Guyana) offered them a better
life. Jews prospered in the fields of commerce, sugar
cultivation and finance.

Ironically, the first Jew to come to the New World was
Christopher Columbus's interpreter, Luis de Torres.
The Inquisition banned the Jews from participating in
an expedition, but de Torres wanted to live and make a
living. He converted to Christianity alongside the
ship, just before it sailed.

De Torres didn't stay, but Marranos did. As early as
1502, they lived secretly in Brazil-many settled in
Recife. Freedom came with the Dutch capture of the
territory. But, in 1654, the Portuguese returned and
resumed the Inquisition. The Jews quickly relocated to
Surinam, Curacao and Statia.

SURINAM
Surinam lies just east of Venezuela. Crypto-Jews
arrived as early as 1536, but another Jewish colony,
Torarica (rich torah), was formed in 1639.

Under the sponsorship of the English governor, Lord
Willoughby, migration from England began in 1652.
Given religious rights, the colony, Joden Savanna,
thrived, and prosperity continued when the Dutch took
over in 1667.

Neve Shalom Synagogue was built in Paramaribo. By
1736, one-fourth of the sugar plantations were owned
by Jews. They even had their own militia. Bitter
disagreements soon arose between the Ashkenazim and
the Sephardim. The Sephardim ceded Neve Shalom and
built Tsedek Ve Shalom, complete with sand floor. (It
is said that sand floors were originally used to
muffle the sound of crypto-Jews' footsteps and
prayers. It also symbolized the desert wanderings.)

The settlement decline is attributed to the plunder of
plantations and the 1832 fire in Joden Savanna. The
bankruptcy of the Amsterdam business house, Dietz, and
the introduction of beet sugar didn't help much
either.

Today there are about 70 Jewish families in Surinam,
many of them high-level civil servants. The entire
contents of Tsedek Ve Shalom are in Israel's Jewish
Museum. Neve Shalom is still used, and alongside it
is a Moslem mosque.

CURACAO
Curacao is the Jewish jewel of the Caribbean. Since
1634, when Samuel Coheno was appointed Chief Steward
of the native Indian population, Jews have called it
home. Refuges escaping Inquisitions in Recife and
Europe
began arriving in 1651.

The Dutch totally accepted the Jews. In fact, Jews
were the only foreigners who didn't have to leave the
city at night. Immigration swelled, and by the 19th
century, the island had the largest Jewish population
in the Americas.

Jews began as planters, but were most successful as
merchants and ship owners. Language skills made them
interpreters, which helped to establish commerce
between Europe and the Americas. Ironically, many
dealt in the slave trade.

The first temple, a wooden house founded in 1659 in
the De Hoop (The Hope) area, became Mikve Israel. A
rift in 1864 brought the founding of Temple Emanuel, a
reformed congregation. It took 100 years and two
floundering congregations to solve their differences
and merge.

The 1920s brought the Ashkenazim. Not surprisingly,
they had differences with the Sephardim. Their
Orthodox shul, Shaarei Tzedek, is located in the
Scharloo neighborhood.

Today, the former Temple Emanuel, with its steeple and
stained glass windows, is a government law office. But
the famous, sand-floored Mikve Israel-Emanuel,
consecrated in 1732, is legendary. Its bima and seats
of the finest mahogany, huge chandelier, organ and
four columns-one for each of the matriarchs-make it
elegant. The Dutch colonial-designed structure is the
Western Hemisphere's oldest synagogue in continuous
use. It is also one of the island's biggest
attractions.

Involvement ended at Beit Chaim Bleinhelm, located
west of the Joden Kwartier. It is estimated that
between 5,200 and 5,500 people are buried here at the
Western Hemisphere's oldest cemetery. Unfortunately,
many of the elaborately sculptured tombstones have
been damaged by erosion.

The Jewish community, about 600, is still very much a
part of the island. They welcome landsmen.

ST. EUSTATIUS
Not many people are aware of the seven-square-mile St.
Eustatius, affectionately known as Statia. It was a
big deal in the mid-1800s-the hub of commerce between
the Americas and Europe. A free port, it supplied the
U.S. with arms during the Revolution.

David Seraiva and Abraham Henriquea, the isle's first
Jews, came here from Recife in 1660. Other Jews
followed, leaving abruptly each time French pirates
took control of the island. When the Dutch regained
control, they returned, and the Jews prospered. In
1739, they erected their synagogue, Honen Dalim
(Merciful to the Poor), which was so affluent, it had
two rabbis. A hurricane destroyed it in 1772, but it
was rebuilt.

With an 11-gun salute to the American Brig-of-War, the
"Andrew Doria," on Nov. 16, 1776, Statia became the
first country to recognize U.S. independence. For this
goodwill gesture, British Admiral Rodney raided and
torched the warehouses five years later, which
economically destroyed the island. Merchants, most of
them Jews, were looted and deported to St. Kitts and
Antigua. Ironically, the Pollack brothers, Americans
who escaped to Statia because they were pro-British,
suffered the same fate.

Today the shell of Honen Dalim still stands on "Jews
Way" or "Synagogue Path." It has been refurbished. The
stairs leading to the women's level are still in
place. A mikvah and the cemetery, surrounded by a
stone wall and two iron gates representing the Ten
Commandments, are located at the end of Princessweg
Road. No Jews currently reside on the island.

ARUBA
In 1754, Moses Solomon Levie Maduro sailed to Aruba
from Curacao to established a branch of the Dutch West
India Company. Others followed, but a true Jewish
community never really took hold. Evidence of a Jewish

presence from that time is a small cemetery in
Oranjestad.

The Holocaust started a Jewish migration in 1938. With
the establishment of Palm Beach's Jewish Country Club
four years later, the community was officially
launched. The club no longer exists, but the community
does. Beth Israel Synagogue was built in 1962. Today
it has a full-time rabbi. And for a little nosh, there
is the Kineret Aruba Kosher Deli.

ST. MAARTEN
Rodney's 1781 raid on Statia spurred the Jewish
settlement on the neighboring island of St. Maarten.
It never really thrived. A synagogue erected on
Archerstaat (Back Street) became a pile of rubble
within 40 years. The Guavaberry Emporium is thought to
be the site of an old synagogue and off Front Street
there is a small alley-like street known as Jews
Cemetery Way. The walkway leads past the synagogue and
cemetery complex.

Tourism has brought a resurgence of the St. Maarten
Jewish community. There is no synagogue, but one is
planned. About 20 Jewish families reside on the island
as well as a Torah which is kept under lock and key.