History of the Jews in Latin America
Encyclopedia : H : HI : HIS : History of the Jews in Latin America
- For a list of individuals of Jewish origin by country, please see List of Latin American Jews.
There were at least seven Jews (either crypto-Jews, Marranos, or sincere Jewish converts to Catholicism) who sailed with Columbus in his first voyage including Rodrigo De Triana, who was the first to sight land (Columbus later assumed credit for this), Maestre Bernal, who served as the expedition's physician, and Luis De Torres, the interpreter, who spoke Hebrew and Arabic, which it was believed would be useful in the Orient - their intended destination.
In the coming years, Jews settled in the new Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the Caribbean, where they believed that they would be safe from the Inquisition. Some took part in the conquest of the "New World," and Bernal Díaz del Castillo describes a number of executions of soldiers in Hernán Cortés's forces during the conquest of Mexico because they were Jews.
Nevertheless, several Jewish communities in the Caribbean, Central, and South America flourished, particularly in those areas under Dutch and English control. By the sixteenth century, fully functioning Jewish communities had organized in Brazil, Suriname, Curaçao, Jamaica, and Barbados. In addition, there were unorganized communities of Jews in the Spanish and Portuguese territories, where the Inquisition was active, including Cuba and Mexico, however, these Jews generally concealed their identity from the authorities.
By the mid-seventeenth century, the largest Jewish communities in the Western Hemisphere were located in Suriname and Brazil.
Today, Latin American Jewry is composed of more than 350,000 people and the community is headed for institutional professionalization. Among the central organizations that operate the region, the [Jewish Culture Fund for Latin America]is the most visible and the central organ for Jewish outreach.
Argentina
Jews fleeing the Inquisition settled in Argentina, but assimilated into the Argentine society. Portuguese traders and smugglers in the Virreinato de la Plata were widely considered Jews but no organized community emerged after independence. After 1810, Jews, especially Jews from France, began to settle in Argentina in the mid-19th century. In the late 1800s, just as they did in the United States, many Jews arrived from Eastern Europe and Russia, fleeing persecution and pogroms, called "Rusos" in Argentina. Between 1906 and 1912, Jewish immigration increased at a rate of 13,000 immigrants per year, with most from Eastern Europe but others from Morroco or the Ottoman Empire. By 1920, more than 150,000 Jews were living in Argentina.Jews in Argentina quickly came to play a role in Argentine society, but were subject to waves of antisemitism. In 1919, pogroms fomented by the police as response to the assassination of Cnel. Ramon Falcon by anarchists, targeted the Jews and destroyed significant property. In 1946, former Nazi officials begun immigrating to Argentina, allegedly with the authorization of President Juan Peron, while Jewish immigration begun to wane, while at the same time the country established ties with the state of Israel (Adolf Eichmann was later captured in Argentina by Israeli agents). During the military junta of 1976 to 1983, 1,000 of the people killed by the state were Jewish (estimates of the total number of victims range from less than 9,000 up to 30,000). In the 1990s, the Jewish community was the subject of two terrorist attacks. The Israeli Embassy was bombed in March 1992, killing 32 people (see Israeli Embassy attack in Buenos Aires) and in July 1994 the Jewish community center (AMIA) in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 85 people and wounding over 200 (see AMIA Bombing).
Today, around 800,000 Jews live in Argentina, mostly in Buenos Aires, comprising the third largest Jewish community in the Americas. (After that of the United States and Canada)
Brazil
Jews settled early in Brazil, especially when it was under Dutch rule, setting up a synagogue in Recife as early as 1636. Most of these Jews had fled Spain and Portugal to the religious freedom of the Netherlands during the re-establishment of the Inquisition in first Portugal, Spain, and again Portugal. Amsterdam and a few other Dutch towns soon had small Jewish communities. However, Jews were barred from almost all guild trades and faced limited opportunities. The community soon had more members than it could support.To open up trade opportunities and provide a home for Jews unable to support themselves in Amsterdam, the Dutch merchants pushed for an expedition to take Brazil and its rich sugar plantations from Portugal (which was then weakened and under Spanish rule). Despite several years of advance warning from spies, the Dutch expedition easily took control of Brazil and Recife in the Second Battle of Guararapes. For twenty years, the colony prospered and the Jews with it. Despite resentment from Dutch and Portuguese Christians, the Jews were vital to trade as they were the only ones who spoke both Dutch and Portuguese from the beginning. Unlike Amsterdam or Portugal, the Jews of Recife experienced extraordinary religious toleration, including being allowed public processions, a synagogue, religious schools, and a mikvah. A civil war, supported by the Spanish crown, soon racked the colony as Portuguese Brazilians, who were Roman Catholic, fought to remove the Protestant Dutch. As the guerrilla fighting ruined the sugar trade, many Jews returned to Amsterdam, leaving a fraction of the community behind.
The war between the Portuguese and Dutch over Brazil culminated in the surrender of Recife on January 26, 1654. The capitulation agreement provided for a period of safe-conduct for 3 months for Dutch subjects who wished to leave Brazil. While the Jews' safety was guaranteed, they must have been uncomfortable with living under the eye of the Inquisition and having soldiers billeted in their synagogue. Since shipping space was extremely scarce, the victorious Portuguese general extended the safety for Christians and Jews who never had been baptized past the alloted three months. By the April 26th deadline, it appears all Jews residing in Brazil had left for Holland, Dutch colonies in the Caribbean, or North America.
Jews resettled in Brazil in the 1800s after independence, and immigration rose throughout the 19th and early 20th century. In the late 1880s, members of the Zionism movement considered settling many Jews in Brazil to escape Russian pogroms, but strict immigration laws and political strife led to this plan being abandoned. The immigrants who did come to Brazil arrived from many different Jewish communities around the world, making the community in Brazil very diverse, in many ways a microcosm of Brazilian society in general. Generally, the community has escaped major persecution, despite the government banning all organizations of immigrant communities including Jewish communal organizations for a time during World War II.
There are about 95,125 Jews in Brazil today, and they play an active role in politics, sports, academia, trade and industry, and are overall well integrated in all spheres of Brazilian life. The majority of Brazilian Jews live in the state of Sao Paulo but there are also sizeable communities in Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná.
Dominican Republic / Santo Domingo
Sephardic Jewish Merchants arrived to southern Hispanola fleeling the inquisition. Over time, this Jews assimilated into the general population. Despite this, Jews still remain from this early infusion of Sephardim Today there remains a functioning Synagogue in Santo Domingo, "Centro Israelita de la Republica Dominicana"
Sosua is a village in the north of the Island which was founded by Ashkenazic Jews fleeing the Nazis. Trujillo invited Jews to the island less for humanitarian reasons, and more for their skills. Sosua has a Synagogue and a Museum devoted to this amazing phenomena.
Mexico
Due to the strong Catholic presence in Mexico, few Jews migrated there until the late 1800s. Then, a number of German Jews settled in Mexico as a result of invitations from Maximilian of Mexico settled in the country, followed by a wave of Eastern European Jews fleeing Russia. A second large wave of immigration occurred as the Ottoman Empire collapsed, leading many Sephardic Jews to flee. Finally, a wave of immigrants fled the increasing Nazi persecutions in Europe.Today, there are between 40,000 and 50,000 Mexican Jews. There are several sectors in the Jewish community in Mexico. The biggest of which are the Ashkenazi Community (descended from Eastern Europe), the Maguén David and Monte Sinai Communities (descended from Syrian immigrants) and the Sepharadic Community (primarily descended from Turkish immigrants). While most Jews in Mexico are concentrated in Mexico City, there are subtantial Jewish communities in Guadalajara, Monterrey and more recently in Tijuana and Cancún. The "Centro Deportivo Israelita" is a social, cultural and sporting institution which includes members from all Jewish communities.
The Jewish community in Guadalajara is continually shrinking and has approximately 150 families. The community is made up of almost an equal number of Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews. Originally the two groups had separate synagogues and didn’t intermarry; eventually the two groups united and almost all of the younger families are made up of mixed Sephardic-Ashkenazi marriages. There is a community center, similar to that of a J.C.C., which is the center of Jewish life in the city. The center has a sports facility, a Jewish day-school, and also houses the synagogue. In recent years the community, called [La Comunidad Israelita], became Modern Orthodox, which caused a sizeable part of the community to break-off and form a new Conservative community; dividing this already small community. Because the Jews of Guadalajara rarely marry outside of the Jewish community, most of the young adults who are interested in getting married are inclined to move to Mexico City, which has a larger Jewish population. This is the main cause of the diminishing population of the community, a similar problem facing the Jewish community of Monterrey which is almost of identical size.
There are also some Mexicans who consider themselves descendants of Conversos, Jews who converted to Catholicism to escape the Inquisition, but retained some Jewish heritage (like lighting candles on Friday nights). For example, the famous painter and Converso descendent Diego Rivera wrote in 1935, "Jewishness is the dominant element in my life. From this has come my sympathy with the downtrodden masses which motivates all my work."
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico is currently home to the largest Jewish community in the Caribbean, around 3,000 Jews, supporting three synagogues in the capital city of San Juan: one each Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox. Jews were prohibited from settling in Puerto Rico through much of its history; a few arrived during World War II, but the majority of the current population are descendants of Jews(Juban) who fled from Cuba (once home to 15,000 Jews) after Fidel Castro's Cuban revolution in 1959.Like many former Spanish colonies founded soon after the Spanish Inquisition, there is some population of Puerto Ricans who are crypto-Jews (some prefer to be called anusim, or coerced), descendants of forcibly converted Jews. Some of these maintain elements of Jewish tradition, although they themselves are Christian; this includes some members of families with last names like Rodríguez, Gómez, Méndez and Cardoso. [link]
Philippines
The Philippines, which was ruled by the Spanish for about 400 years, also has a small population of people that can trace their roots back to 'moranos'. Some Spanish Jews fleeing from Spain during the Inquisition traveled with colonizers to the Philippines. Unfortunately, many of the Filipinos who have Jewish roots are unaware.Current populations
| Rank (Worldwide) |
Country | Jewish Population |
% of Jews |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Argentina | 395,379 | 1% |
| 11 | Brazil | 95,125 | 0.051% |
| 15 | Mexico | 53,101 | 0.05% |
| 20 | Uruguay | 30,743 | 0.9% |
| 22 | Venezuela | 25,375 | 0.1% |
| 24 | Chile | 20,900 | 0.131% |
| 31 | Panama | 10,029 | 0.33% |
| 44 | Colombia | 3,436 | 0.008% |
| 47 | Peru | 2,792 | 0.01% |
| 48 | Costa Rica | 2,409 | 0.06% |
| NA | Dominican Republic | 250 | 0.006% |
Anais da Biblioteca Nacional do Rio de Janeiro; V. 74. Rio de Janeiro: Departamento de Imprensa Nacional, 1953
External links
- [Jews in Argentina]
- [Jews in Brazil]
- [Jews in Mexico]
- [Jews in Ecuador]
- [Jews in Suriname]
- [The Foundation For Jodensavanne]
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